Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no exact science in this regard, so Deputy Doherty’s €11,000 might be as effective as the €12,000 I proposed. We had and still have a situation where both in terms of family homes to purchase and rental accommodation, in Dublin in particular but also in other parts of the country, there is a supply side problem. I was looking at a series of possible measures that might alleviate supply. In the case of houses with spare rooms I thought a generous incentive might spring people into providing a room for a student. When I designed the scheme there was much publicity about third level students in Dublin not being able to find accommodation. I thought a marginal increase would have no effect but if the message went out about a 20% increase, it might provide rooms for people who need them. We have done other things as well. Following on from last year’s home improvement grant we are now applying the scheme to landlords. There are approximately 5,000 bedsits in Dublin and because of the regulation which states that bathrooms and toilets should be en suite, they have gone out of use. I hope some of those properties will come back into circulation. I have often said in the House that if there are problems, doing nothing is not a strategy.