Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

In Ms Hunt's research report of March 2005 on the development land market she said: "The landmark sale by CB Richard Ellis Gunne in late 2004 of the 11 acre Grange Castle site in Stillorgan for approximately €87 million ended what was a very busy year". That site was bought by a syndicate of rich people and Ms Hunt's company had organised the sale. After the syndicate had held on to the site for four years, CBRE sold it on its behalf for a speculative gain of €53 or €54 million. That speculative gain probably added €100,000 to the price of each of the apartments built on the site, which would have had serious implications for first-time buyers. It might well be the case that ten years of a 40 year mortgage will be spent paying for that speculative gain. Does CBRE have a moral criterion or compass as to the social or ill effects of that level of speculation and profit seeking during the bubble which was facilitated by the company in a professional sense, with the associated stresses for young people and so on?

Did that enter into CBRE's considerations?