Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

It would be wrong to give encouragement that the flat prices involved will be at 1988 or 1998 prices. We have a tenant purchase scheme which is under consideration in the wider manner, but we are talking of taxpayer money and though we would like to give things away, we cannot do so. The fundamentals of the scheme would involve prices very near open market value. It is a case of how one handles this and what schemes one starts with. A lot of money has been spent by the city council and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in recent years in refurbishing many of these flats so questions would arise. Should one sell the refurbished flats first or the ones which have not been refurbished? There are many issues to be worked out. We hope to have the heads of the Bill to the Cabinet by the summer and then to work on the legislation, which might take six or eight months. We expect to announce the broad framework during the year.

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