Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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If the Minister of State is going to change it, do we know to what it will be changed? Clearly, there would have been well known discount criteria for persons more than ten years in a local authority house. Obviously, they be tapered. If I recall correctly, a person had to be in a house one or two years - it may have been three years - before becoming eligible to purchase it. Is this the type of arrangement with which the Minister of State intends to continue? What does she have in mind in that regard?

Another issue is the availability of mortgages. I presume it is exactly the same arrangement that would apply in the event that a person is turned down by a bank or a building society or two banks. In such cases the local authority can consider funding a mortgage. There have been significant problems with some of the mortgages offered. For example, this does not apply to tenant purchases. In the case of shared ownership loans, what lessons have been learned about the age profile of people who wish to purchase but who are unable to buy or are significantly in arrears because their work circumstances have changed? Has this occurred mainly where people are in affordable housing or houses on a shared ownership basis? From my experience of people going through the local authority in looking for a mortgage, the criteria are stricter. Obviously, ability to purchase a house will be an issue, if a person is to be treated in exactly the same way as if going to a bank or a building society.