Issues with housing in Ireland are back under the spotlight, with concerns being raised about property investment funds buying up property en masse.
(Source: stocksnap.io)Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien says there need to be changes to how property investment funds are taxed, to stop them having a negative impact on the housing market.
Minister O'Brien says he is considering all options including an outright ban on funds buying residential property to stop them purchasing entire housing estates.
However, Fine Gael Ministers including Tánaiste Leo Varadkar have come out against a full ban saying the funds have a place in the market.
Darragh O'Brien has put pressure on Fine Gael Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to come up with solutions:
"Fundamentally the big role in this is with the Department of Finance. The tax treatment of these funds is really I believe what's going to effect real change on it.
"I have been working on this for a number of weeks and I've also been talking directly with the Minister for Finance about it. The Taoiseach's been very clear, as has the Tánaiste, we find this type of behaviour unacceptable."
