Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I have been discussing all these issues with the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and, obviously, NAMA comes up in that context. The idea is worth exploring but I do not think there is a simple answer. When a loan is transferred to NAMA it is the loan rather than the property that is transferred. The property is the collateral. Only in cases where NAMA moves in and the person whose loan is taken over has his or her assets appropriated would the State have direct control of the asset. All these points are looked at on a continuing basis.

Local authority houses provide the answer to this problem. I fully accept the Deputy's points about filling local authority houses and people refusing housing. We have to deal with that issue and it formed part of my discussions with the Minister of State. A second issue is getting local authorities to move much faster on the RAS, putting people onto that scheme or approving people for it, thereby dealing effectively with the poverty trap mentioned by Deputy Shortall.

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