When will we see legislation to put in place a new tenant purchase scheme? Many local authority tenants do not have the option of buying their houses and have been in limbo for a while. In some cases, if they were to buy the house, the monthly mortgage payment would be lower than the rent being paid to local authorities.

That is an issue the Government has considered and it will form part of the housing Bill. The legislation may come before the Cabinet before the end of the year. The Minister of State responsible for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is concerned about this issue and anxious to have this and a number of other elements put in place as a package to deal with the problems arising in different locations.