Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I raise the sale by NAMA of land known as the Ash Castle site on the border between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Dublin City County Council. The site is adjacent to Booterstown Marsh which is a nature reserve. I refer the Minister of State to page 8 of the properties subject to the enforcement action of NAMA on the NAMA website. However, if the Minister checks the NAMA website he will notice that the actual address given is Booterstown Marsh which is not the name of the site. As a public representative I have a major problem with this notice for sale. The NAMA website states that this site is not for sale at present but I am informed that the site has been sold subject to planning permission.

Along with many of my constituents in Booterstown-Blackrock I am very concerned that this was not an open and transparent advertisement for the sale of Ash Castle. I am not casting aspersions on the purchaser which I believe is a sporting organisation. What I am concerned about is the process used. Was this an open and transparent sale? Did NAMA, in giving a misleading address, hinder others' bids for this piece of land? Is it the case that other houses, lands and apartments for sale displayed on the NAMA website are shown with misleading addresses? Finally, and most important, is the taxpayer getting the best price for properties bought on their behalf by NAMA and now being sold by NAMA?

I understand the sensitivity of sales under NAMA but I am concerned that in giving misleading addresses or limited information on properties for sale NAMA is constraining ordinary people from knowing what is for sale and bidding on these properties. NAMA is the largest property holding company in the world and I am deeply concerned that purchasers, vendors in the know or an inner circle have the inside track and are able to bid and purchase properties the general public do not know are for sale. I am aware of at least one other example which has been reported where this is happening.

To allay the public's disquiet that deals are being made by NAMA on behalf of a small circle in the know I ask that the Minister insist that NAMA puts onto its website, first, the exact and correct address of property for sale; second, the guide price for property for sale; and, third, the sale price achieved for properties sold by NAMA. I also want to be assured that sites and properties for sale by NAMA are advertised publicly in newspapers and by estate agents in an open and transparent manner.

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