Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

I reiterate - Ms Carroll has already referred to it - the criteria are clearly set down in legislation and all of us have to work within the law. The important point - we were quite deliberate in this - is that the process is independent of the Minister in the sense that he or she has no discretion in terms of deciding whether an area is in or out of a rent pressure zone. The process is set down clearly. The Housing Agency has to consult with the local authority concerned but the Housing Agency then makes its independent judgment as to what area is put forward to the Minister and then the Minister must refer the areas on to the RTB. The RTB's function is simply to do the calculation and see whether the area meets the criteria, which are set down in the legislation. When the RTB reports back to the Minister, once again the Minister has no discretion. If an area is in, the Minister makes the order and if the area is out, the Minister cannot make an order.

With each quarter we will get fresh data and with each quarter the Housing Agency will look again and may or may not make further recommendations to the Minister. As I stated earlier, as part of the discussions before Christmas the Minister stated that he will review the effectiveness of the process in June. That is quite early on. It is only six months. It is very early days. The system has been in place for less than two months. We will be reviewing its effectiveness and reviewing the criteria again in June, and we very much welcome views on it.

Earlier Deputy Casey stated there are anomalies arising also in Wicklow and we are aware of them. As I stated, the Housing Agency consulted with each local authority and all of the local authorities would have been in touch with the Housing Agency. As I stated, it is not the RTB that makes the decision. The decision is made based on the criteria. It is the facts that make the decision. There is no objective place here. It is the measurement.