Mr. Ashley Balbirnie:

I wish to make a number of general points before Mike responds to one or two specific questions. I cannot let the phrase "endless increases in rent supplement" stand when the last increase was over three years ago. I must stress that it is not the case that there have been endless increases and we hesitate a little about how effective the proposed 15% increase will be because such a gap has built up.

The belief or hope that the private rental market will solve all our ills is a busted flush. Everybody we talk to, on all sides of the political divide, will now put their hands up and admit that it has not worked and is not going to work. At least there is now agreement on that.

Focus Ireland, like many other organisations, does not particularly want to put the squeeze on landlords; we want something that will work for landlords as well. It is only then that we will get some genuine stability in the market place. That is why we want a system that will provide an element of stability for both landlords and tenants.

Finally, in terms of the rent supplement and the private rental market, if there are people in private rented accommodation, we need to keep them there. We must do whatever is necessary to keep them there because it is so much better for those families and far more cost effective for everyone involved. If families are in private rented accommodation, we must keep them there, by whatever means available.