The opposition parties are convinced housing is the issue that will finally damage the Fianna Fail-PD Government. In recent months they have had to stand by and watch as little of the mud from the two tribunals in Dublin Castle stuck to the Coalition while the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, successfully managed to duck and weave his way around a whole series of potentially embarrassing revelations from party funding to the Sheedy drink-driving controversy.
Continuing problems in the housing market, however, are seen by the Opposition as offering an opportunity to embarrass a Government which has been riding high in the popularity ratings since it came into office two years ago.
The Labour Party spokesman on housing, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said: "There is no escaping the fact that housing is going to be a serious general election issue".
It is accepted by all the political parties that there is no instant solution to the housing crisis. However, for the Government, the difficulty remains the time-lag before its proposals are seen by the public to be working. Fianna Fail officials admit that the message from the doorsteps in last June's local and European elections was that childcare and housing were the two issues exercising the minds of the voters. The Government is expected to introduce radical proposals to tackle the childcare issue in the December budget. The housing problem is proving difficult to address.
The latest survey of the second-hand house market in Dublin, from estate agents Sherry FitzGerald, indicates a 25 per cent increase in prices this year. Disputing the figures, the Minister for Housing, Mr Robert Molloy, said his Department's house-price statistics compiled from all lending institutions continued to show the trend that house prices were moderating.
The Government's claim will be tested later this month when the latest set of official house-price statistics is released. Evidence from auctioneering sources around the State indicates some degree of levelling off in the rate of increases seen last year. However, the feeling on the ground is that house prices are still rising at near double-digit rates. Mr Danno Heaslip, an auctioneer in Co Galway, said residential house prices had "slightly levelled off" in recent months but that the rate of price increase in the Galway region was about 10 per cent.
The two reports on the housing market prepared by the economist Dr Peter Bacon were heralded by the Government as offering the solution to the crisis. The recommendations in the Bacon reports were aimed at reclaiming the housing market for first-time buyers through a series of measures to deter investors. In the case of rental income the interest on money borrowed for investment in residential property was no longer allowed as tax-deductible while stamp duty was introduced on new properties for non-owner-occupiers.
The Fine Gael housing spokesman, Mr Brian Hayes, believes the Bacon reports have failed, a view shared by Mr Gilmore.
"The latest set of house-price figures drives the nail into the coffin of the strategy offered in the Bacon report," he said.
Mr Gilmore wants to see greater State intervention in the housing market. With evidence from the Sherry FitzGerald report that investors have returned to the residential market, he argues there may now be a need to provide greater incentives for single-property owners.
Yesterday Mr Peter Bacon declined to be drawn into the controversy. It is understood he has plans to revisit the recommendations in his two reports.
A Fianna Fail source admitted that housing was a major political issue. There have also been attempts to shift responsibility for the present crisis. Government representatives say housing is a problem "inherited for the Rainbow administration".
The problem is recognised as one of supply. That, however, poses a major political headache for the Government. Tackling the problem of housing supply takes time, certainly longer than the maximum of three years to the next general election.
The publication of new planning legislation next week will address the question of social housing. Whatever about the constitutional consequences of the social housing proposals, of greater significance may be the proposed streamlining of the planning process, which the Bill is understood to include.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, is known to want to reduce significantly the time-lag between applications for planning permissions and the start of construction on the projects.
Again, however, time is the problem for the Government. It may already be too close to the general election when this proposed legislation makes any impact on the building of major housing developments, particularly in the eastern region. Fine Gael and Labour are hoping that here at last is the issue to dent the Government's popularity.