Labour, FG back NESC proposal

Fine Gael and the Labour Party have come out in favour of proposals for State aid for first time house buyers.

They were commenting following the publication in The Irish Times of recommendations contained in a draft report from the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) on the housing market.

The report is due to be published in eight weeks time but following the publication of some of the expected recommendations yesterday, Labour's environment and local government spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore TD, called for the immediate publication of the final report.

He also called on the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, to act on the report's recommendations.

Measures to help first-time buyers put a deposit on a house - through tax relief on savings or a scheme under which the State would actually invest in a portion of the property - are among the recommendations in the draft report.

Mr Gilmore said that such measures would be welcome as the cost of a deposit on a new house is the equivalent of an annual salary for many people.

Fine Gael's spokesman on environment, heritage and local government, Mr Padraic McCormick TD, said Fianna Fáil and the PDs should "make this the first issue on which the new 'caring' government takes a stand. We wait in hope rather than expectation."

He said that at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in April he had spelled out a three-point plan to help first-time buyers. Now that NESC had come out with similar proposals, the Government had no choice but to act.

Mr Gilmore questioned the length of time it was taking for the NESC to produce the report and speculated that "vested interests" were seeking to prevent radical proposals from being included in the report, even though they would be for the common good.

"I have great respect for the NESC but they have been considering this matter for a very long time," he said.

A spokeswoman for the NESC said it would not be commenting on the issue until the report was published, most likely in eight weeks time.