The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Peadar Tóibín today met with Minister Brian Hayes to discuss the excessive rents paid by the Office of Public Works to private landlords.

Following the meeting Deputy Tóibín said: "The government pays out €98.5 million per year for the rental of office space from private landlords. Of this a staggering €53 million per year is tied into leases with clauses that can only be negotiated upwards. As a result the state is paying €10 million more than it would if upward only rents were abolished. It is also the case that substantial figures are paid to developers and landlords that are now under NAMA."

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Sinn Féin said the ongoing cost of NAMA to the state has been "disastrous" and this "crisis cannot be left unaddressed".

He concluded: "The programme for government promised to end upward only rent agreements because of the impact they have on our competitiveness. The government has told us that they have legal opinion that the issue cannot be addressed; however this is disputed by others in the legal profession. The government need to bring forward proposals to honour their election and programme for government commitments to end upward only rent agreements."

(CD/GK)