Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. That sounds good but let me drill into the Minister's figures. Reducing the figure from €131 million to €100 million would be a saving of more than 30%. The numbers employed in the public service during that period will have been reduced from 320,000 to 282,000 and we are well on the road to achieving that, which is a reduction of 12%. As there is 12% fewer staff in the system, our requirement for accommodation should be reduced by 12%. Reducing the accommodation bill of €131 million by 12% would bring the figure down to €116 million. Therefore, 12% of the reduced bill for accommodation is due to a reduction in the number of public servants and the balance is due to rent reduction. I compliment the Minister of State on that.

Yet NAMA, the largest property management company in the country has only achieved an average of 14% rent reduction in the years from 2009 to 2015. It would be better to employ community welfare officers who have succeeded in cutting the rent supplement to a greater extent.

The Minister represents a busy constituency and is well aware the community welfare officer tells the landlords to cut the rent. If he were told the cuts in individual rent supplement payments were 14% during the five year period, he would say it was not good enough. Yet the figures supplied by the Minister of State translate into a 30% reduction but half of the reduction is attributable to the 12% fewer staff. On analysis, the figures are not half as rosy as he pretends they are.