John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of course. The more players involved in this space, the better. It is only with scale that we will see the real benefit in competing with the private market, in terms of reducing rents over the time. The advantage that other European countries have over Ireland is that they developed their stock 40 and 50 years ago, post the Second World War and we are only starting at this point. We will see that over time but the people struggling right now with rental accommodation want delivery today. That is where there has to be trade-off in terms of increase in scale and the players involved in it.

I compliment Mr. O'Connor on his comments in regard to turnkeys because they are often misconstrued and presented in a different light in media and political commentary. The period for forward purchase agreements to which he and the LDA referred is much more appropriate. I have many examples of social homes in Waterford in which families and individuals live today that would be green fields if it were not for turnkey agreements with approved housing bodies and local authorities.

As a follow-on from that, does Mr. Taaffe believe the State can obtain good value for money through turnkeys vis-à-visthe all-in costs of development in the local authority sector? This is often a thorny issue as we do not actually have a direct correlation in terms of the comparisons between the all-in costs for local authorities versus the turnkey cost? Local authorities have staff on their books and certain costs are not attributed. Does Mr. Taaffe believe turnkeys are good value for money?