Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

On social housing, it comes down to two points. One, a local authority may inform us there is too much of a concentration of social housing in an area and it is trying to limit it. We cannot control that and it is up to the authority to work with a community as to what is an appropriate limit.

The second point is that the approved housing bodies were really reluctant to sign leases for NAMA properties as they were only interested in getting a capital grant from the Government to buy the units. There has been some re-education going on in this area. As I said in my opening statement, we will continue to make units available for social housing and the quicker people engage with us, the quicker they will be delivered. We will put €10 million into completing these units. As such works will include finishing apartment blocks, landscaping and so forth, it is a win-win for everyone involved. We are doing everything to address this issue.

Yesterday, we informed the Ministers, Deputies Hogan and Jan O’Sullivan, that we have noticed there is more traction on the other side to take these units from the agency now. If not, the market will take the units and they will not be available. Everyone involved is beginning to understand this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It will not solve the whole issue but it will be a substantial contribution to resolving some of it.