Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

Deputy Wallace raised some other questions. He spoke of how there will be an increased reliance on the State to provide housing in the future and so on, and I do not disagree with him in that regard. The business model by which people try to acquire their homes might be changing and more people might be moving towards renting and things like that. Obviously, as the cost of housing increases, it becomes more difficult for people to get mortgages or to be able to afford it. The Deputy is correct that under the Central Bank rules, at present, one needs a deposit of €38,000 for a €300,000 house, which is a big deposit. Our debtors are telling us that in the schemes they have launched, people are telling them that while they really like the house, they are €10,000 short. They then return the following week to say their brother, sister or father will lend them €5,000 but they are still €5,000 short and so on. People really want to buy those houses but are caught by the Central Bank rules. I am aware that this issue is being reviewed by the Central Bank later this year and, like everything, while it might be good in principle, I have been stating repeatedly that calibration is an important point in this regard. In my view, €220,000 is a very low level for a 10% deposit, but that is a matter for the Central Bank.

The Deputy mentioned the docklands and the Chairman referred to the 2,000 units. That decision started off with the chief executive of Dublin City Council and the council ultimately adopted it. The Deputy also spoke of the value of assets and what they were at that point in time. As I stated, the reality is we should only have paid €26 billion for them but ended up paying €32 billion for them to the banks. Thereafter, the market dropped by another 30%, so they probably were only worth €22 billion at one stage. Consequently, there has been a big turnaround in that regard.

The Deputy raised an issue with regard to the cost of labour, and I do not disagree with him. However, I simply make the point that I also talk to a lot of people who are saying that with registered employment contracts, the cost of labour still is a big issue. I accept that people can have different views but all I am saying is what I am hearing. I assure the Deputy I will go back and interrogate it again, but I hope that answers the Deputy's questions.