Mr. Charlie McCreevy:

Yes, Deputy, and I recognise also that you, in particular, have been highlighting this for a long number of years, much to your credit may I say. And the Government of which I was member ... all of the initiatives that we took place before Bacon, post Bacon was to try and increase the supply in the belief that in any other area when you increase supply, the price of the product falls down. That was ... various measures that we took place were all intended to increase the supply in that, maybe somewhat mistaken belief, which maybe proves that in this particular sector, the normal laws of supply and demand did not take place and the reason that my colleague, the then Minister for housing, I think it was Deputy Robert Molloy, initiated the first Bacon study. I think there might have been studies by Goodbody Economic Consultants as well but someone else can check that ... is that was on this belief is that the first-time buyer and the ordinary person on the average industrial wage and people starting off with young families or whatever, couldn't get on the housing ladder. We may not have ... Deputy, you're correct, we definitely did not succeed for a lot of that period, but that was the intention, you can take it from me.