Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Connor and the staff from the Housing Agency, as well as Mr. McCarthy and the staff from the Department. I thank them all for their work and support.

At this committee last month Mr. Brendan McDonagh, chief executive officer of NAMA, was questioned on its remit in respect of the role of housing in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and disclosed that 6,984 social housing units were offered to local authorities in the State, but only 2,717 units were availed of. Following on from that, I asked the Minister, via a parliamentary question, the reason not all units offered were availed of. The answer I received was that the Department, the Housing Agency and the local authorities worked systematically through the full list of homes supplied to determine if there was a social housing demand for the properties identified. There are tens of thousands of people who have been languishing for years on waiting lists. The average waiting time in my county is around eight years. I am sure that it is similar in other constituencies. The word "systematically" was used. Huge resources are being expended on the housing assistance payment, HAP, increasing with every budget. Can the witness please explain what the Minister meant in his reply? He specifically mentioned the Housing Agency. How is it the case that 61% of the properties offered by NAMA were deemed not fit?