Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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-----but I will be brief. Mr. O'Leary mentioned the shared ownership scheme and I know his responsibility is to lend the money but he mentioned the Part V review. As the Chairman said, there is a real problem in that people have come to the end of it but the other problem is that they had taken shared ownership loans from 2004, which suited them at the time, but in the case of a single man or woman or a married couple in a one or two bedroom apartment, their family sizes may have increased. I have personal experience of one family with two children living in a one-bedroom apartment. The value of the apartment was €210,000 on purchasing. They would be lucky to get €110,000 for it now, and they want to move on with their lives. They need accommodation suitable to the size of their family but even if they took a 100% write-down they are not in a position to sell on because the local authority will not take the write-down on the value of their side of the loan.

Is there any mechanism or have the delegations had any discussions with the local authorities about the cohort of people caught in that area? They are living in unsuitable accommodation and cannot move off. The value of the local authority's share in the home is still at its purchase value but the owner or tenant or shared ownership person has taken a 100% write-down. Has any discussion taken place? It is a tragedy to meet large families living in one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments. They simply want to move on with their lives and they seek accommodation that suits their lifestyle but they are caught in limbo. Has any conversation taken place between the Department, the agency and local authorities about some form or mechanism to consider this problem?