Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

This has been the subject of extensive discussion at our committee and I will not repeat what was said. In the real marketplace that is modern Ireland today, in every shopping mall and office block, tenants are demanding that landlords renegotiate their contracts or they will leave. That type of initiative should not be excluded from the public sphere either. The boards of management are the contractors with the suppliers, not the Minister, although he pays the bill. If he was to incentivise boards of management by getting them to negotiate a 15% reduction, it would amount to a saving of approximately €7.2 million. He could allow them to keep 40% while the Department took the balance of approximately €5.9 million over time. It is very much a buyers' market, but the boards of management have to be incentivised. If there is nothing in it for them and the Minister is paying the Bill, they will sit on their hands.

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