Simon Harris opened his first budget speech today as finance minister with a message of hope. This is, it must be said, easier to do when you are laying out a budget which will deliver a surplus of €9.5 billion with the country awash with a record corporate tax take.  The coming measures, he promised, would set out an “optimistic “ path for the country, which balances today’s needs with tomorrow’s musts and ensures investments “bear fruit for decades to come”. Nowhere could this be more true than housing, a key concern for all demographics in major polls, making it…