A chara, - As a young man renting an apartment in Dublin for the past three years, I have decided that the time has come to try to buy my own home. I have visited a few auctions recently and I am shocked at the hugely inflated prices of property on offer. One of the reasons is that the prices are being pushed up by people buying the properties as a valuable investment yielding enormous rental incomes. Young people who don't own any house or apartment are being priced out of the market by well-off people who own several. The Government has a responsibility to ease the plight of people who are trying to buy their own homes. I propose that people who already own a home should have to pay a substantial tax if they purchase an additional residence. This would ease some of the demand in the house market and make house ownership cheaper and more attainable for all people. Is mise,
Padraig Kelly, North Circular Road, Dublin.