Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It sounds extraordinary. The local authorities have a lot to answer for in that respect. I wish we could deal with the local authorities, but unfortunately they are not bound by our remit. We should write to them, arising from this. They have spurned 4,500 potential units of housing in the middle of a housing crisis. That is extremely serious.

In respect of Longboat Quay, I do not know how many unit sites Bernard McNamara had in Dublin central public private partnerships, in O'Devaney Gardens, Dominick Street, Seán Mac Dermott Street and Croke Park. He had at least four major developments and we thought it was terrible that he had not availed of the opportunity to construct them. He did not put a brick down in any of them. Now we are rather thankful that he did not or we could have the same problems as Longboat Quay. What can NAMA do in relation to Longboat Quay? That is an immediate issue, with the threatened evacuation of the 600 or so residents. Mr. McDonagh stated in the past, if I took it up right, that NAMA had spent something in the region of €100 million in refurbishing property that was not compliant with decent standards and regulations.