Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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It is a poor practice, however accepted it may be. The GPO Arcade was a property that we had as an example last week. It was valued at €895,000 but the rent was €200,000 a year. The basic formula for the value of that property would be a figure of ten times the rent at the moment, though it could be much more. That is a figure of €2 million. That skews the people's picture of the assets the State has. It seems that accepted practice is so much on autopilot that the State does not care what a property is valued at, provided it is consistent. If a property was purchased in 1975 for £25,000, and we stick with the acquisition cost, then everything is fine. From a basic business point of view, that would be absolutely incredible. There are valuers employed by the State permanently in the Valuation Office, and indeed for relatively modest fees, auctioneers all over the country would be prepared to undertake valuations. If property was valued last year in detail, then a desktop valuation or upgrade, which I have often done in the private sector myself, is a very nominal cost, but at least it gives us accuracy.

I also have a fear, and perhaps this is something that we engage with the Office of Public Works on, that we have a whole series of properties all over the country that we are not really up to speed on, regarding squatters' rights, rents, or valuations. You yourself, Chairman, in parliamentary questions, have noted that when businesses are struck off, properties accrue to the State, and we have also learned that there is not even a register of these properties. We could have hundreds of properties or five, and the people in control on the ground, who may hold squatters' rights on those properties may again impede upon the State's holdings. Practice, that word that scares the life out of anybody who has been around politics for a few years, is one thing, and the law and what is best is another thing, and this is a problem. We need to set aside some time to look at this, because it has highlighted what I believe is a serious problem.