Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

In a letter dated 17 October 2006 the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government responded to the request from the Department of Finance for further detail. Under the heading of "proposed site acquisition" the letter states that an evaluation prepared by the authority indicates that, at a reasonable density of commercial and residential development, the value of the site would be in the region of €220 million. It stated in respect of the financing requirements that, under this scenario, the joint venture partner would hold at least 51% of the equity, again at a cost of €60 million and that the intention is that the remaining debt financing of approximately €100 million required to complete the acquisition would be secured against the property to be acquired and arranged and borne by the JVC. The significance of that statement is by that stage it had been proposed to set up a 50:50 partnership in the joint venture requiring €120 million to be provided by the partners and a further €100 million to be borrowed, for a total of €220 million. I have to disagree, therefore. While the case was certainly in support of the application to extend the borrowing requirement, it was couched in terms of a venture priced at €220 million. That has to be the construction drawn from the letter sent on the 17th.