Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I assure Deputy Costello that I am not happy at there being too many quangos. I have demonstrated this view in recent times. The Government is committed to solving this problem. The programme for Government, the statement on housing approved by the Government at the instigation of Deputy Penrose and the Government's recent housing policy statement which was published in July, all clearly indicate that the rental market will be of increasing importance to the citizen because the capital moneys are no longer available to build local authority housing. The private rented residential market will be coming under scrutiny and will be included in the regulatory framework in the future. The research to which I referred will consider both the security and the insurance-based approaches to the scheme. We will see what are the costs and the operational structures required within the PRTB and the legislative implications arising. I assure the Deputy it is a Government priority. I hope the research will be available on time by mid-2012 and that we will be able to proceed with the implementation of the recommendations before the year is out.

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