The attention of the public needs to be directed urgently to a great wrong that would be done if the government is allowed to get away with putting in place a housing scheme recently proposed by Deputy Finneran, minister for state in the Depart­ment of the Environment. The proposed scheme is simply a device to enable the government to give a handout to people who have been speculating in housing.

Finneran states that there is an abundant supply of vacant and unfinished houses on the market and that the state can get good value for money. However, instead of proposing that the state buy those houses and bring them into state ownership at the lowest possible price, he proposes instead to take long-term leases of 20 years on such houses, and at the end of that time to hand them back to the owner/speculator.

The minister states, "The owner will not be responsible for dealing with the tenant or maintaining the houses... the local authority will do this. The state will take the risk and responsibility for ensuring that the property does not become vacant for long periods, as it has a flow of households with housing needs to use up the supply." In other words, people in need of housing are to be used as fodder to ensure that the property speculator is protected from loss. The tenants' and the taxpayers' money will be used to see that the speculator comes safely through the recession, and then the state will hand him back his house to be put on the market. Nice one!

Sabina Higgins.

Letteragh,

Rahoon, Galway.