Mr. Patrick Davitt:

There is one big thing for landlords like that. We see thousands of them across the country, including in Dublin, and we have raised this issue for many years. Indeed, one morning I raised it at a committee meeting of a particular group and I was nearly run out of the room with people asking where the figures had come from, and what the story was with them, etc. However, we all accept now that there are well over 100,000, at the worst, vacant properties in the country. There any many people like the Deputy's friend. The good thing for his friend - using the terminology again - was that he could do something about it. Many people cannot do something about it. The one thing that such a person needs to do is to sell that property as quickly as he or she can to somebody who is going to bring it into the market place. What encouragement do such people need? When they pay their capital gains tax or get their money for their properties, they get a discount. This should be done for possibly one year or 18 months to give these landlords an opportunity to sell their properties and pay less capital gains tax. It would bring huge yields.