Mr. John McCarthy:

It will continue to be reviewed on a quarterly basis according as the RTB index comes out on a quarterly basis. The Housing Agency will be keeping the issue under review. Ultimately, a debate can be had on whether it should be 7% or 5%, but in terms of the state of the market locally, one would expect it to be reflected in rents and the rate at which rents are increasing. Supply and demand will ultimately dictate the level of rent and the pace at which rent is going to increase. That is the rationale for it. As I say, there is a policy discussion that could probably be had for a long time with regard to that.

On the acquisitions of the Housing Agency, which the Senator also mentioned, there are more than 330 units at this stage for which the purchase has been closed, contracts signed or bids put in. We are obviously trying to get the Housing Agency to target and focus initially on areas in which the pressures are greatest. It has signed contracts for 238 dwellings and 80 of those have closed. Bids are pending on a further 89. It is looking at further possibilities on an ongoing basis. The critically important thing for that fund, as it is a revolving fund, is that as it engages with the banks and gets them in, it passes the ownership onto the approved housing bodies, which can finance a significant proportion of that through private financing. That then helps to replenish the fund. Of that 330 units or thereabouts, the Housing Agency has already identified a number of approved housing bodies for about half of those units, 150 or 160, to be sold on to. I would expect those sales to start to finally close in the next five to six weeks. The funding will then come back into the fund, which will allow the Housing Agency to continue with the purchases.

I may have confused my notes at this stage. Just give me a second until I-----