Mr. Eoin Dorgan:

Obviously, there is a cost implication either for the State or for banks and most likely their everyday customers who are paying interest rates.

That is the first issue that has to be considered. The second issue is one that was raised during the passage of the Dormant Accounts Act 2001. Essentially, it would be very difficult to take control of private property assets without having a strong common good rationale for legislating to deliver it. For us, these remain the two main issues. As we mentioned to the committee at that time, there may be an argument around the common good in regard to artefacts of national and historic importance. That might be a good way of trying to address the common good argument. It becomes much more difficult to justify it on the basis that one person would be rewarded with an asset of which he or she had no knowledge or awareness but at a cost to the wider public.