I note that the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who has special responsibility for housing, has proposed rent controls and this is long overdue. I note also the bitter opposition expressed by the Fianna Fáil Party to any kind of rent control. Is it intended that legislation will be introduced on this?

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has made interesting proposals on taxing oil and gas concessions. I am struck by the fact that numerous Departments, including the Department of Education and Skills, have come up with wonderful innovations in recent weeks.

The Deputy is straying somewhat.

There seems to be a fin de siècle feel to this Government.

Is the Deputy referring to a siesta or siècle?

It seems as though many interesting innovations are emerging in the days before this Government changes utterly when many Ministers depart. Is this the case?

The Deputy knows this is not on the Order of Business.

I asked about legislation twice.

The Deputy knows it is not up to the Minister to decide whether the Government will change or not.

The Government is afflicted neither with a fin de siècle nor a fin de siesta weariness.

The siesta is over.

The issue of rent controls has arisen because of a supply side problem that currently exists. Unfortunately, such a problem cannot be resolved overnight as it takes to time to build houses, even when investment is available. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, is working on a proposal at the moment and I hope he is finessing it for an announcement that will be additional to and separate from what has been announced by the Minister of State with special responsibility for housing. It is remarkable that one year ago it was not possible to sell a house in most parts of Ireland and now prices are rising again.

There are financial constraints and unanticipated constraints such as the difficulties faced by builders who are ready to build but have trouble sourcing credit. These credit problems are often due to the recent records of builders with lending institutions. One suspects the lending institutions are not upset about this situation because it helps their internal ratios in preparation for stress tests in autumn.

There are definite supply side issues so the Minister of State with special responsibility for housing has been examining short-term rent controls and has sought legal advice on the matter. In an ideal world there would be no rent controls. When one takes into account clearing sites, designing buildings, getting planning permission and so on, it takes between 12 and 18 months to achieve the housing output the economy needs. We will never return to the days when 90,000 houses were produced per annum for the reasons we know. However, the construction sector is functioning at half the capacity of such a sector in a normal economy. There is capacity to double the current construction workforce and this is the challenge facing the Government. We must recast the economy rather than return to how things were done before.

What was the Deputy's question on oil and gas?

Will legislation be needed for the changes proposed?

Changes in the fiscal regime must and will be reflected in the Finance Bill.