Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has said he has no plans to change the laws on stamp duty following the Progressive Democrats' pledge to abolish
the tax on
first-time housebuyers.
However, Mr Cowen did not dismiss the possibility of adopting the PDs' stamp duty proposals at some stage in the future.
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The stamp duty proposal was announced - alongside a number of other pledges on tax cuts, pensions increases and childcare spending - by Tánaiste Michael McDowell at a party conference this weekend.
Any alteration of the current taxation and stamp duty laws will be a matter for the parties forming the next Government, Mr Cowen said.
"I'm not commenting one way or the other on what any other party has to say on these issues," the Minister said. "We will put forward our positions in due course."
But he insisted his decision not to alter the stamp duty rules in his Budget last December had got "full Government support".
That decision was about "giving benefit to all first-time buyers, not just those who are about to purchase", Mr Cowen said.
As a result of this move, there has been what he called a "clear settling" in the market and reduced or moderated house price inflation.
Mr Cowen said he could not pre-empt whether or not Mr McDowell's statement would lead to an increase house prices for first-time buyers. "I hope that obviously that will not be the case.
"At the end of the day, the mandates that our respective parties obtain in the election dictate to what extent policies can be implemented," said the Minister.