Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said yesterday he welcomed the softening of Irish house prices in recent months. Mr Cowen said the Central Bank and other institutions believed there would be a further softening of house prices and that he hoped this would happen.

Housing completions would probably reach 85,000 this year, with a similar number next year, Mr Cowen said, adding that he believed interest rate hikes were starting to kick in and that Ireland's property market was "heading for a soft landing".

Mr Cowen, who was attending the annual Thanksgiving lunch hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, declined to give any indicators of planned measures in the Budget to be announced on December 6th. He said the tax package would not necessarily include income tax measures. In his speech at the lunch, Mr Cowen reiterated that he is "fundamentally opposed" to any attempts at European corporate tax harmonisation including a common consolidated tax base. Ireland's engagement with the Commission on the issue "should not be seen as any kind of political endorsement for the project," he said.

He also told the attendees that he believed that cost competition is a "dangerous obsession" and that the long-term success of the Irish economy would be determined by the quality of its infrastructure and the skills of its citizens.
Áine Coffey