Mr. Tom Dunne:

That is a function of local authorities but they need assistance. We do not do it, and that is another story, but I want to make the point that we should not be stockpiling land because it then becomes a resource we do not use.

Accounting conventions that we have established for imposing discipline on Government agencies insist that we take land from agencies at market value. Land is just another resource, like all the other things that are valued as inputs into whatever a hospital has to do. Land is just one of those resources. It happens to be on balance sheets at its market value because that is what is done under accounting conventions. If land is taken out, one must pay in because it is a resource. How to handle resources in organisations is a very big question. I do not know if it is right to do it or not.