Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I accept that the motivation behind this proposal is to find an ingenious way of getting the market going again, disposing of properties and recouping the taxpayers' outlay. I remind the Minister of State and the House that NAMA is the largest property owner in the world. While the initial sale is of a mere 750 houses it is to be extended to 5,000, and the potential damage of that number of sales is enormous and will be enduring. Apart from the impact of the subsidy on price, there will be a huge impact on the volume of other sales. Incredibly, it seems that NAMA is now going to facilitate the provision of finance, as the Minister of State has said, through the three named banks. At best, this will absorb almost all the available bank mortgages, leaving no finance for private sellers and buyers. At worst, I suspect that NAMA will, effectively, provide some kind of mortgage insurance for the banks, which disadvantages other sellers and buyers and distorts the market.

This is another unquantifiable risk being piled on the backs of taxpayers and is not in accordance with the mandate of NAMA, which is to protect taxpayers. The scheme should not be allowed to proceed, at least without pause for thought about its implications.

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