Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I could understand that in 2008 and 2009 when the market was bottoming out. However, if someone was renting in 2009 and paying €15,000 per year, it made more sense to keep doing that due to the fact that depreciation in the value of properties of €300,000 was running faster than that. One would be out of pocket €30,000 by buying the building as opposed to renting it. Up to 2011 and 2012, perhaps, that continued to be the case. However, rent-to-buy would have been a very attractive option around 2011 and 2012. One would have seen that the market was bottoming out and that even if one was to take a temporary hit, it would come back in the future.