Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I support the Fine Gael amendment which will add significantly to the Bill. It will provide for a committee of these Houses to examine in more detail these appointees, which is to be welcomed. The list of qualifications really represents a list of the great and the good, including finance and economics, law, accountancy and auditing — with all due respect to my two colleagues present. Why does it not provide for somebody with a competency in social policy or who had an involvement in social policy for some considerable time? Such a person with a social conscience might being to bear some of the needs of the real people. Rather than all these speculators and heavyweight bankers why do we not have someone who deals with this from the ordinary person's angle? I know we will not get NAMA for the ordinary people — goodness knows the Government made that plain from the very beginning. However, surely to goodness there could be some level of consciousness among this group of people that would at least take cognisance of the needs of real people.

For NAMA to succeed property prices will need to rise to bubble levels again. If property prices rise to bubble levels again, we will be back in the same mess we were in to begin with. Inevitably there will be a crash. The question of valuation is the main issue for most of us on this side of the House. Certainly for me and my party, Sinn Féin, that has been the single biggest problem with the valuation. It makes it almost impossible for NAMA to work. If it works we will be victims of the NAMA success. This is crazy stuff. Therefore I support the Fine Gael amendment.

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