Taoiseach Bertie Ahern seemed to signal his support yesterday for the pledge by the Progressive Democrats to reform stamp duty before the Dáil summer recess, if Fianna Fáil and the PDs are returned to government.
Mr Ahern told reporters yesterday: "The concept of doing it in the summer and not waiting until the budget makes sense".
Earlier, Tánaiste Michael McDowell committed the PDs to abolishing stamp duty for first-time house buyers and introducing bands to make the system fairer.
He said if his party returned to government the reform would be implemented with immediate effect to ensure market stability.
