Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has signalled the Government is considering a U-turn on the proposed concrete block levy.

He told RTÉ yesterday: "I am confident some of the concerns raised will be addressed in the Finance Bill."

Mr O'Brien said he was also "acutely aware as Housing Minister we have to have affordable housing".

However, he did not reveal how it will be paid for, adding: "Who pays for it will be brought forward in the Finance Bill by Paschal Donohoe."

Plans for the proposed levy have become increasingly chaotic as an ever-greater list of problems emerges.

In Association with

It is envisaged the €80m take from the levy will contribute towards offsetting the cost to the Exchequer of the mica redress scheme.

The latest blow to the levy was the admission by Mr Donohoe that it will lead to costs considerably higher than the initial calculations of €1,200 per dwelling.

Responding to Dáil questions from FF TD Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, Mr Donohoe said: "The Department of Housing have had a bottom-up scientific analysis carried out by an independent Construction Economics Cost Consultant."

The analysis found: "When soft costs including cost of finance, fees, risk and contingency are included the impact on the range for a typical dwelling is €1,400 to €2,200 and for a typical apartment is €1,300 to €2,100."

One Government source said: "€2,000 is considerably heftier than first thought."

Independent TD Carol Nolan said it was "penalising the wrong people and adding an unnecessary burden. The Government should be tracking down the quarries responsible".

Agriculture Committee Chair Jackie Cahill warned "it is ill-advised, ill-thought-out and needs to be revisited".

One FG TD said: "It has all the appearances of another crackpot Green scheme. It won't work."

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said: "We are advocates for a levy but it should be broader and should encompass the banks.

"I would also be concerned that once again the consumer, young people building homes, will end up paying the price for the inactions and omissions of others."

In Fianna Fáil a motion by John Lahart expressed grave reservations about the impact on the cost of schools, hospitals and bridges.

Mr Lahart noted: "The fiscal irony of this is that the State will end up paying most of the levy. Schools, hospitals and bridges use concrete too."

One Government source said: "It is fiscally illiterate. The State is taxing the State."

The Economic and Social Research Institute has said people buying new homes will shoulder the cost of the levy.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland calculated that it will add between €3,000 and €4,000 to the cost of an average three-bed semi-detached house.

Despite the controversy, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has insisted the levy will remain and claimed the financial burden for homebuyers would not be large.

Labour Finance spokesman Ged Nash said: "The Government needs to go back to the drawing board on this. Labour has proposed a levy on profits, not products. This is a fairer way of doing it and would minimise the risk to first-time buyers."