Mr. Michael Walsh:

I am not entirely sure what is intended here. Cost is the issue that concerns me but we are happy to explore it. We want to get to a standardised inspection regime that is recorded through IT. It should not be that difficult ultimately to transition that into a certificate. The question is how we get there. We argue with the Department about the cost of inspections which we say cost us €150 to €200.

The Vice Chairman referred to unannounced inspections. They are nearly impossible. One will be knocking on a door with no one there to open it. Our difficulty is that it is desperately resource intensive in trying to get access and get around the place. Neither is it only the inspections, as they lead to further work, whether it is issuing a certificate or otherwise. If I recall correctly, there are more than 300,000 rental properties. If each costs a couple of hundred euro to inspect, that is a total cost of €60 million that must come from somewhere.