Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

With regard to the exclusion of a building that forms part of a trading stock, in the current climate many builders are entering into short-term leases under lease to buy schemes, in the hope that in a few years the apartments or dwellings will be purchased. My reading of the Bill is that the levy applies to those short-term leases. What lease term would be excluded from the levy? I live in a town where the old colonial landlord still owns a considerable part of the town's residential area. People have their homes on long leases. What is the situation there? The leases could be 30, 50 or 100 years in some instances. In the case of apartments, the owners of the apartments do not hold the freehold. That is held by a management company. The apartment owners have a 999 year lease in most instances. How is the provision applied in that situation? Although the €200 is not a significant figure, if it were to increase it might be an impediment to builders participating in the innovative lease to buy concept, given the current difficulties in the construction sector.