Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I was not too sure. I could not believe my ears when I heard it. There have been no purchasers. The State has spent approximately €300,000, there are four local authorities involved in the scheme and there is no purchaser. What is going on here? At best, when this scheme was introduced the Minister of State could have been accused, if not of bailing out developers, of at least putting a false floor on the housing market so that properties would not fall below it by bringing in the €285,000 maximum loan. That is the most benign accusation that could be made against the Minister of State in this regard.

I note that in response to the question by Deputy Upton, who specifically asked for the cost of administration of the scheme to date, in excess of a quarter of a million has been spent on a scheme which is out of date, which does not reflect the current market, in which there are four local authorities tied up and in which there are no purchases proceeding. Will the Minister of State scrap this scheme and stop the excessive waste of public money in today's economic climate on what is a failed and flawed project?

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