Mr. John Hannigan:

I will address a couple of issues. As all of my colleagues will agree, we would welcome and do welcome, on a regular basis, representations from councillors from all of the local authorities that we work within on behalf of tenants from time to time. While there may be no statutory footing for same we recognise that they have a very important role to play in terms of representing the people who have voted for them. While they are not councillors per se when they come, as in they are not acting as councillors, they are certainly there to help represent the people that we support. On a continual basis, we see lots of councillors coming through the door for that purpose, which we welcome and it is really important.

On the issue of what the Government will do, we share Deputy Coppinger's concern that certain things need to be done. Some of the things that we have talked about today just need to be agreed and worked forward. The cross-departmental group is a key issue. Having the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government involved in discussing a regulator for housing bodies, HBs, is really important.

The Government must give a commitment to continue with the funding processes that they have in place until we know exactly where we stand and until we have something that definitively says what we are. At the moment it is a nebulous issue. The Central Statistics Office has made a recommendation to EUROSTAT. We believe that nothing should change until EUROSTAT decides. There must be continuation until we are clear about the implications and know what is required. We should continue with the process of funding as it stands right now.

Finally, it is really important that there is a commitment to helping the sector and others reverse this decision if it becomes one. Having a Government commitment on a cross-party basis is critical for success. Part of the reason the UK has been successful is due to securing cross-party agreement. We need such agreement as a sector and from a housing perspective. We need that agreement to ensure that the people who are on a social housing waiting list receives the houses. We need that cross-Governmental and cross-party support. I hope the Government will make proposals on all of these aspects that I have outlined.