Mr. Ivan Grimes:

As I said in my initial comments, we were one of the local authorities to come up with the concept of the repair and leasing scheme and we put a fair bit of effort into it. It took quite a while to get it going and Senator Cummins will be aware of that. Initially we were dealing with individual property owners and the scheme does not really suit them. It is more suitable for multi-unit properties or owners. For example, we have had a number of pubs that have gone out of business and been converted into multi-occupancy units, especially in Waterford city. About three years ago we engaged with the local estate agents and auctioneers on the scheme. They are a good source of information about owners and they know about properties that are vacant and people who are interested in turning a buck, for want of a better word, from their vacant properties. It is hard work getting the scheme up and running, but once it gets up and running, it delivers and it sells itself.