Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I stick to my original point. It is worth noting that the urban and town renewal schemes will have cost the Exchequer €0.75 billion in lost taxes by July 2006. When this is coupled with the fact that 130,000 people are now on the waiting list for social housing, it must be asked why reviews of tax reliefs are not undertaken. The tax relief was initially introduced to encourage regeneration and it was very successful. It has now unfortunately pushed house prices up by an average of €100,000 and housing has become even less affordable for the ordinary person. There is now the scenario where some people can afford to have five or six properties but others cannot afford to buy their first one. This issue should be examined again.