Ahern accused of helping 'friends' in construction
The Taoiseach is talking up the housing market to help his friends in the construction industry, it was claimed today.
Greens leader Trevor Sargent told the Dáil that Bertie Ahern’s comments to a management conference last month that the overvalued property market wasn’t a problem for the Irish economy were irresponsible.
Mr Sargent cited yesterday’s Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) figures which showed Fianna Fáil had received political donations from several construction or property firms.
Mr Sargent asked: “Does this special relationship help to explain your comments at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) national management conference last month where you talked up the housing market, even though prices have risen at nine times the rate of inflation, even though, since you took power, average household debt has gone from 40% of disposable income to 130%?
“I am telling you, your comments in Druid’s Glen saying the level of growth in debtedness, due to inflated house prices, is not a great problem for hard-pressed people trying to pay mortgages, were irresponsible, Taoiseach.”
Mr Ahern replied that unwarranted pessimism about the housing market didn’t help the economy or jobs growth.
“The financial stock of the Irish property residential market is €500bn and the loan book is €100bn, so I do not see why that should create a shock,” he said.
“I said the same in 2003, I said the same in 2004 and I said the same in 2005. Every year I have had to listen to reports that the bottom would go out of the market, that we would be building less houses and in fact that isn’t the case,” he added.
The Taoiseach said the Government had increased the volume of private, social and affordable housing every year for the past nine years.
“Somewhere along the line we’re going to see supply and demand coming together.
“I do not think we should be getting ourselves into trying to create a crisis in a very important part of the sector of this country,” he added.
