Tom Parlon, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, has slammed claims by Minister Batt O'Keeffe in today's Sunday Independent that a 'cartel of big builders in Dublin' are acting to suppress housing output.
Mr Parlon has also criticised Mr O'Keeffe for being 'out of touch' with the realities of the housing industry.
'I have written to the minister this morning requesting an urgent meeting to discuss this claim and to ask the Minister to furnish proof for his serious allegation,' he said.
'The industry is asking whether the minister is in touch with the realities of the housing market. On the eve of the Budget the minister completely ruled out reform of stamp duty and argued against the need for such reform'
'The minister continues also to tell builders to 'slash their prices' yet the very same newspaper in which Minister O'Keeffe made his comments shows that Ireland has one of the highest levels of transactions taxes amongst 50 OECD countries surveyed. Every 10,000 houses built generates €1bn for the Exchequer through a range of taxes on housing.'
'The minister also needs to understand the development process in order to understand and comment accurately on issues such as pricing.'
'There is demand for more than 20,000 new houses and apartments in Dublin every year but even at the height of the boom in house building activity it was impossible to build much more than 10,000 units.'
'The implementation of Part V social and affordable housing, for which the minister has responsibility, in many ways illustrates the sort of problems encountered in the planning system.'
'House building activity is back significantly on previous years, but this is an inevitable consequence of the market. House builders face the exact same pressures and operate against the same principles as all businesses, and the current environment has been a difficult one for the entire industry, which is a major employer and has a made a major contribution to Ireland's economic development over the past decade. It seems easy for the minister to point the finger of blame at the house building industry'
Mr Parlon concluded, 'There is excellent value available in the market at presence, despite what the minister might believe, and the market is responding. Our members are reporting a significant pick up in interests from buyers and sales over the weekend indicate that the underlying demand for houses is returning to the market.'
