There was more bad news for the Government this week as official figures from the Revenue Commissioners and Homebond confirmed the widely perceived slowdown in the property market. Stamp duty on new and second-hand properties fell by 14 per cent to £79.89 million (101m) in the first five months of this year. The figure for the same months in 2000 was £93 million (118m).

By all accounts the Department of Finance is not impressed and is blaming the Bacon measures - remember, market correcting initiatives they introduced themselves -- for the slump. Yet again poor old Bacon is being scapegoated for all the ills of the housing market. The perceived wisdom in the property industry is that the Government should never have intervened. Had they merely instructed the local authorities to rezone housing land and ensured that it was quickly serviced they could have speeded up the supply of homes for first time buyers. As it has turned out, they have managed to put the kibosh on the entire market.