Madam, - The draft report on property rights by the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution as published in The Irish Times is to be welcomed. In particular the recommendation that the section on the Kenny Report of 1973 should be introduced, i.e. that land owned for development should not be sold for more than its use value plus 25 per cent. The Workers Party has campaigned for many years to have the Kenny Report implemented.
There is no doubt that the massive profits being made on land that is owned for residential use has undermined the entire planning process and lies at the heart of the corruption being exposed by the Mahon Tribunal.
It must be pointed out, however, that the Kenny Report has gathered dust on its shelf since 1973 and consecutive Governments have backed off implementing it, under pressure from a very powerful lobby of developers and speculators. It now remains to be seen whether the present Government has the will to take on this small, but very powerful group. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL FINNEGAN, Chairperson, Dublin Region, Workers Party, Hill Street, Dublin 1.