Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We must use the various methods at our disposal, and that includes the NAMA units. We have to pay for those NAMA units; it does not give them to us. It did come up to over 3,000 because it identified other units. We will bring them over the line as quickly as we can do so but there is a cost to the public purse for every NAMA unit we purchase. NAMA is required to give a return to the taxpayer under its legislation and therefore we have to pay for those units.

On the issue of the cap on rent subsidy raised by Deputy Murphy and others, currently that is a matter for the Department of Social Protection. We are working towards that responsibility coming under local authorities but for the moment it is an issue for the Department of Social Protection.

I understand that shared ownership raised by Deputy Ó Feargháil is an issue, and it is a particular issue in some counties. Many members of the committee have brought that to my attention and we are examining it in terms of the burden it places on people on shared ownership. We do not have easy answers to it because if the burden is taken from the person living in the house it is put onto the local authority. It is not an easy one to solve but we are considering what we can do about that problem.