Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

What I was discussing here was not something to enrich landlords, it was the engineering difficulties that exist in the context of bringing pre-1963 properties up to standard. The grave danger we have is that single property owners of many pre-1963 properties will find it too expensive to upgrade and that those properties will be placed on the market or will be left to just sit there. We will then see a recurrence of what is happening in many towns. I do not want to make anybody rich and I do not want to make anybody poor. I do not want anybody to have to live in miserable accommodation. I stated earlier that there is a belief that European law is being broken. The one fear I have is that some of the big institutional investors will take this to the European Court if it comes to it. The professionals are telling me that it is not possible to come up seven points in a pre-1963 home. That is not the case with all of them but it is with some. That is the reason I fear the legislation will be challenged when it leaves this House.

I accept the Minister's bona fides.I accept what he is trying to do but I advise him that there will be an attempt - if not here then in the courts - to overturn this and that would be bad for all of us.