No such commitment was given. In urging Dublin Corporation to secure improvements in their housing maintenance and management operations, Minister of State Stagg suggested that privatisation of the service might arise if the necessary improvements did not take place. It is a matter for the corporation to consider the options for achieving such improvements, and to implement, as quickly as possible, the necessary changes. The Minister of State dealt with the position clearly in his contribution in Seanad Éireann on 2 June, 1993 to a debate on the Government's housing policy. In the course of that statement, he pointed out that the present situation was unsatisfactory and that local authorities must develop new systems of management and maintenance to provide better value for the substantial expenditure — some £80 million annually — on these services. I fully support that view.