Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Is the Taoiseach saying the Government is satisfied with the take-up of public private partnerships and about the process that must be gone through? Is he satisfied that the State is able to discriminate between the kind of projects the State ought properly to undertake and could properly undertake more cheaply than through a PPP? I wonder if I understood the Taoiseach's rebuttal of Deputy Sargent's point about the housing stock being worth €500 billion while credit is at €100 billion. Is it not fair to say that there are a great many wealthy people in housing worth €500 billion who have long since retired their mortgages and that it is those with more recent mortgages who, if there were a wobble, would be at risk in terms of the extent of credit available for that segment of the market?

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