Interest rates are coming down but it's not quite enough to bring the property market back. However, financier Derek Quinlan has some ideas as to how to achieve this.

He was among those talking to the two Brians in recent days ahead of next week's budget. Quinlan makes no bones about where he sees the country going. "Ireland is sliding off the map and we need to put it back up there. We are being badly affected by outside factors, but there are things that can be done in the budget, and in particular for the property market," he says.

According to Quinlan, if the first-time buyers could be enticed back into the market then the effect would trickle up. His suggestion to the minister for finance is to offer a €30,000 first-time buyer's grant, for a limited period of, say, nine months. This, along with the considerable discounts being offered by developers, could get the market moving, which in turn would get the banks lending again. "If you get the first-time buyers out, it establishes a bottom of the market." His second suggestion is that the Government bring back tax relief on the purchase of apartments, and that the tax relief be against all income rather than rental income. In particular, he is thinking of the legions of high earning professionals who would gladly snap up property at reduced prices, if there was the chance of also clawing back some tax. Interesting to see if the Government listens.