Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is on a good news story and all I can say is fair play to the people who thought up NAMA in the very beginning. They have proved their worth and NAMA has come through a lot. I hope the profit of €3.5 billion will be realised for the Exchequer over the eight years, which is no mean feat. One of the originators of the idea for NAMA was the late Brian Lenihan, Lord have mercy on him.

I shall now turn to the issue of housing. It shows where were are now in the State that we have moved on to the sale of portfolios to housing and social housing especially. The provision of housing is the word out there now at the moment and this is the problem of the day. Along with health, housing is the problem.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's report refers to the property management system. Assets were sold and they came back again. How and why did that happen and what action is being taken to address this? The later update shows that assets were put up for sale and then were put in for sale again. The Attorney General examines which assets were offered for sale, which had already been sold and how many others were involved. Will the witnesses explain why this is so?