Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

The two matters are of equal importance and I will have to make my apologies to attend that meeting. In fairness to Deputy Cuffe, at least 150 other Deputies are missing from the Chamber because, I assume, they have pressing business. Deputy Cuffe made his contribution against the clock and I thank the Chair for facilitating him.

This amendment is welcome in terms of requiring NAMA to have regard to changes in Government policy. Deputy Kenny will no longer be able to hold large fundraising events or take money from NTR or Treasury Holdings and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors will not be able to take money while rezoning lands to the benefit of developers and speculators. I prefer to be making a difference in Government than carping from the outside. A Fine Gael-led Government is bound to be elected at some point in the future but I hope the forthcoming legislation on planning and corporate donations will not be reversed by that party. We need to operate on a fair and transparent basis whereby decisions on land use and rezoning are made in the best interests of the country rather than because councillors' friends are offering money. In that context, having regard to Government policy is a key issue.

Deputies Burton and O'Donnell referred to matters not dealt with by the National Asset Management Agency, while the former referred to protection for mortgage holders. The banks issued voluntary statements yesterday. As I stated on Report Stage, the programme for Government provides for measures to ensure that vulnerable mortgage holders who are in negative equity will not lose their homes.

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