The head of the Auctioneers Institute has blamed the slowdown in the property market on Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.
Robert Ganly, Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute president, said the current Stamp Duty regime was overcomplicated and that uncertainty over future plans was discouraging mobility within the market.
In his annual address to the Institute in Dublin, Mr Ganly accused the Tánaiste of 'lacking the courage of his predecessors' on tax reform.
He also strongly criticised a recent RTÉ documentary on the property market, which he claimed had stoked fears without regard for the consequences.
Mr Ganly claimed that Stamp Duty was a tax on hope, aspiration and ambition, which mainly hit young families who decided they wanted a bigger home for their children.
He said it led to thousands of people remaining in houses which were unsuitable, for fear of an 'unjust and inequitable' tax of 9% on the sale price.
Mr Ganly claimed it was 'astounding that the Tánaiste is treating this issue in such a dismissive way'.
He also accused the producers of a Primetime Special on property last year of using the actions of one or two people to tar and smear an entire industry.
He said the programme had no regard for the effect of their actions on the property market, or on 'the thousands of decent people who depend on a reputation for decency to earn their living'.
