Mr. Feargal ? Coigligh:

On the rental market generally and whether it is attractive for property providers to provide property, we are having a review of how the whole market works. The issues of taxation that came up in the debate are ones we have raised with the Department of Finance and we will continue to do so. We heard a lot about vacancy and the Government decided the vacancy grant could apply for houses to rent, so that may assist. Overall, the general points the Deputy made about the rental market and whether people will provide property are absolutely a concern the Department shares. We will just have to work through those in a strategic way and we will be doing that over the coming months.

As for the planning issues, there is a whole other debate about rural pressure, about how national policy and local policy operate, about sustainable development and about all those issues the Deputy is familiar with. They can only be worked through by the local authority in conjunction with national guidance. They are all tricky issues to get the balance right on.