Blaney slams Gilmore’s whitewashing on stamp duty

Eamon Gilmore’s mudslinging tactics backfired on him today when he appeared to forget his own party’s record on stamp duty, according to Donegal North East Fianna Fáil TD Niall Blaney.

“Eamon Gilmore is trying to be all things to all people, but when it comes down to detail - he can be found to be lacking in substance.”

“Today when questioning the Taoiseach on Government actions to tackle the problem of the housing bubble and the discussion turned to Stamp Duty.”

“Has Deputy Gilmore forgotten his own Party manifesto? Did Labour not propose a change to Stamp Duty that would have resulted in people not paying the full rate of stamp duty?”

“As I recall it, their plans stipulated that stamp duty should not be payable on the full amount and the threshold should be extended from €317,500 to €450,000, with duty being paid only on the excess over the threshold.”

“This would have resulted in people not paying the full rate. Instead they would only pay the higher rate in respect of those parts of the property that were within the higher bands, meaning that people would pay the full amount on a property costing €400,000.”

“But if the first €317,500 was exempted as Labour proposed, people would have paid extra rates as one went through the bands, ultimately reducing the amount the State would have taken in Stamp Duty.”

“Property prices would have gone up if this kind of approach was taken because people would have more disposable income.”

“Brian Cowen took serious flak from some quarters for not giving in to demands to abolish or dramatically reduce Stamp Duty before the last election. He made the unpopular but ultimately the right and the responsible decision. It is not surprising that Deputy Gilmore doesn’t choose to highlight that in his mudslinging episodes,” Niall Blaney TD concluded.