Watch out for a major confrontation between the handing over 20 per cent of their sites for affordable housing. The builders threat this week that this will put an extra 24 percent on the cost of new houses - even though prices are already inflated - will enrage Mr Dempsey at a time when housing remains a hot potato. If the builders attempt to put a further premium on new houses, the Minister might have to think about introducing some form of price control, a move that would clearly be welcomed by the Central Bank. Builders would obviously be up in arms against any such price fixing but with the Government now more than half way through its term of office, it will be keen to get the housing crisis off the agenda and bring the builders into line.

Newly appointed director of the Irish Home Builders Association, Ciaran Ryan, has been landed with the difficult task of persuading the Government and the public that the problem is not of their making. He points out that while private housing has doubled in the last five years to 43,500 units in 1999, the State housing programme has remained at the same level of 3,000 houses over the same period.