Mr. Ned Brennan:

While the release of NAMA properties is of some assistance in meeting housing need, the biggest obstacle is the lack of funding and investment. Our hands are tied in terms of being able to leverage additional funding from the private sector, either here or in London. As we point out in our paper, that is where the real obstacle lies. As an organisation, we only have a finite amount of resources available to us on an annual basis which is generated by our rents. We only have a small amount of money that we can use to leverage finance. We need to go and borrow somewhere else. As I said to Deputy Kieran O'Donnell earlier, we need to unlock some of the equity that is in our existing stock.

The only body lending to the voluntary housing sector at the moment is the Housing Finance Agency. If an organisation approaches the HFA for funding, however, it will be met with a request for a debenture or a floating charge across its entire stock of property. There is no charity that will enter into an arrangement whereby all of its properties are locked up for a period of 20 years in order to raise enough funds to buy 50 houses. It is absolutely crazy. The HFA's floating charge is another major obstacle for the voluntary housing sector. The removal of such obstacles, which would be relatively simple to achieve, could unlock the sector, enable it to be productive again and start to deliver housing again.

That answers Deputy O'Donnell's second question, which related to the small obstacles that need to be tackled. If they are tackled, we will have an opportunity to get back into the markets and start delivering social housing again.