Mr. Brian O'Gorman:

The Chairman is right, and he has hit the nail on the head. In a way, there does need to be a marketing exercise. One significant advantage Vienna has over us is they began to build cost rental after the Second World War and even before that, so a large stock of housing was built up, and it is much easier to add to that stock because it can be cross-subsidised. We are starting from a very low base. Ideally, we are trying to achieve on the cost rental what housing associations have achieved on the social rental. Organisations like the Iveagh Trust, for example, which began in the 1890s before the foundation of the State, have properties which were developed and which, if there is a vacancy, are still available to rent more than 100 years later. We want to see that kind of model into the future, where we build up the stock of rental accommodation which will, over time, as a number of members have said, drive down the cost and bring that stability to the market so that we do not get these huge hikes and falls in rent but rather have much more stability and drive down the cost for everybody.