Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senator Tuffy on the issue of transfers. During many years of service on a local authority I always considered it an anomaly and encumbrance that tenants who had purchased a local authority house were required to deal with the local authority before selling on the house. This requirement is an unnecessary intrusion. Senator Tuffy's former leader recently informed me that, as a result of the increase in the value of property in Ringsend in Dublin, those who bought their homes through the tenant purchase scheme were investing in foreign property or buying homes in the countryside. This has improved their quality of life and encouraged family members to visit them abroad. It is great that people who once qualified for a local authority house because they could not afford to buy their own property are reaping the benefits of the tenant purchase scheme. Interference in this area should be kept to a minimum. Like Senator Tuffy, I am not certain this is the correct legislation in which to address the matter.