Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

The first question was whether we should inquire as to the buyer's intentions when we sell properties. Our properties are openly marketed and there are different types of buyers bidding on them. The buyers will not necessarily advise on what they are going to do. If somebody buys an income-producing property, it might be kept in order to get that income.

However, if they are buying land, effectively they are tying up their money and there is no income from that, so obviously they must have a different rationale for holding it. They might well say that they just put the money away. Even if we do know the reasons people are buying the properties, that can change once somebody buys them. For example, the Deputy might buy a house from somebody else and say that he will buy it to live in it, but he might not live in it at all. One will not achieve much on that basis.