Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday indicated that his party would shortly publish its property policies. "We will reveal our manifesto later. . . I'm not saying directly that there's nothing in that [on stamp duty] at this stage. We'll say nothing now that will affect the market, " Ahern said. On Friday, he agreed with PD leader Michael McDowell that any stamp-duty changes should be introduced before the new Dail rises for its summer recess.

Officially, the party continues to repeat finance minister Brian Cowen's stance that to discuss stamp duty reform would endanger the property market. However, there is frustration in FF ranks that Cowen has given no indication about his plans.

"Not having a policy would be unsustainable, " one senior FF figure said.

Fine Gael and Labour, as well as the PDs, are promising to eliminate stamp duty for first-time buyers with lower rates for all other buyers at a cost of about 500m. The two main opposition parties were criticised last week for not saying when they would introduce their plan but the pressure has now switched to FF to indicate their policies in the property area. FG is expected to raise the issue when the Dail resumes on Tuesday after its Easter break. A FG spokesman claimed the issue was "hurting" the government.

"People recognise that this tax needs reform. It's bizarre that after 10 years FF and the PDs have suddenly discovered an interest in stamp-duty reform, " he said.

Almost half of all first-time buyers of secondhand houses and apartments do not pay stamp duty as they are exempt from the tax on properties up to 317,500.

Between January and October 2006 there were 44,500 property transactions that involved a stamp-duty payment. Of these, only 3,700 related to properties valued more than 635,000 which attracts the top 9% rate. Robbie Kelleher of Davy Stockbrokers this weekend predicted that the issue would be resolved shortly. "One way or the other, the uncertainty should be resolved within the next couple of months.

That should provide some support to sentiment in a housing market that clearly has come under considerable pressure."