GOLDRUSH IN PROPERTY SPECULATION – AND WE ARE GIVING THEM TAX BREAKS

The news that Green REIT is putting a multi-million property portfolio onto the market turns the spotlight onto Ireland’s latest property bubble.

Green REIT bought up a vast amount of property after the Celtic Tiger crash and is now making a fortune selling it off. Last year it made €156 million in profit – a jump of 264 percent on the previous year. Its chairperson and chief executive were awarded a €21 million share bonus between them.

Brid Smith from People Before Profit said,

‘The new bubble in commercial property prices shows that this recovery is being driven by property speculators. Their fortunes have recovered and many of the same people who brought this country to its knees are once again making vast amounts of money.

‘The global index of firms, MSCI, has stated that returns on Irish commercial property are among the highest in the world. Last year, they were double those for London.

‘Many of the big builders have used company law to walk away from their obligations and start off a new round of speculative activity elsewhere.

‘The people of Adamstown, for example, are still waiting on sports and community facilities that were included in a contract with Castethorn investments. But its owner has moved off into new speculative ventures in Ballsbridge.

‘The FG-Labour government facilitated this new orgy of speculation by giving a special tax break to Real Estate Investment Trusts as part of a deliberate effort to reflate the property bubble.

People Before Profit, by contrast, would impose a special solidarity tax on these speculators to help pay for the damage they caused in the last crash.’