Mr. John Moore:

I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett's comments on the private sector and supply. I was in the private building sector for many years and that sector will never sort out the supply issue. As the Deputy has argued, if there is no money to be made, the private developers will stop and that is how it has always been. I have yet to see a builder sell a house at a loss. When they are looking at land, the first thing they ask is how much they will get for a house on it. They do not look at the value of the land or their costs. They ask what they will get at the end and work back from there. They put a value on the land then and say that they cannot sell for less than €300,000 or €400,000. I fully agree with the Deputy on that point.