Mr. Barry O'Leary:

That is the relatively straightforward question answered.

The Chairman also asked about the use of our reserves. One needs to think about what the relationship is. We lend to the local authority. We are making the heroic assumption that the local authority will always pay us back - that the local authority will not go bust. Obviously, the local authority has an issue with lending to shared ownership clients who have genuine difficulties with paying off the rental side of it. The figures mentioned by the Chairman are broadly in line with what the experience would be. One would find people who have ignored the situation. The premise of the loan in the first instance was that it would be paid back in small tranches over a period of time during which the value of the house and the household salary would increase. We would not comment on the question of whether that was the right premise on which to base the loan. All we do is fund the loan. We do not actually create the scheme. There is a real difficulty that will ultimately have to be addressed. If the Housing Finance Agency were approached for a contribution to the rolling out of a solution, we would look favourably on any approach that would be made by the Department.

At the risk of putting Mr. Nugent in the frame we would suggest the Department would probably formulate any solution that would be rolled out ultimately.