Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I guess this comes back again to the case I am making with regard to the fact that I intended this to be a viability measure as opposed to a measure that would affect the level of rent within the cost-rental unit itself. The aim of bringing this measure forward is, in a relatively moderate way, to try to make a contribution to the Land Development Agency to allow it to deliver more cost rental in the future. For that reason, the matter of it being a rent reduction that should be passed on to existing tenants is not one I considered with the Minister for housing. In any event, in the engagement that we had with the Minister for housing and his officials in the run-up to this particular decision, the case was made clear to us that the starting rent is set in year 1. It is set in a way that reflects the policy environment of the time and then it creates a legal contract that will be in place for a 40-year period, with a clear understanding of how it would be reviewed, which I gather is in line with consumer inflation. What I am saying to the Deputy is that I did not develop this measure with a view to it being a measure about reducing cost rents. I am not trying to be pedantic with him; I am just trying to explain my line of thinking. For that reason, I did not raise with the Minister for housing that this is a measure that should reduce rent downwards for existing tenants in the cost-rental scheme. It was also made clear to us, for the legal reasons that I have outlined to Deputy Ó Broin, that rent is set in a way at the start of the contract that would not allow such an intervention.