Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for the points she has made in this short debate. She has done a great service to the House in raising these issues.

On behalf of the Minister for Finance, I remind the House that the matter is under consideration. When NAMA wrote to the Minister it sought his agreement and that of the Government to the proposed initiative. In all of these matters, a balance must be struck between trying to maximise the potential return for taxpayers, through NAMA, on the sale of these assets and trying to get the property market going again. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, there is no market currently. We all have a vested interest, in terms of our pensions, the future of the country and the construction industry, in making sure we get to the bottom of the bottom of the housing market. Whether that can be done through this scheme is a matter on which the Minister has yet to come to a final view.

It is my understanding from NAMA that a total of 10,000 properties currently exist on its portfolio. Of these, 8,000 are apartments and 2,000 are more traditional semi-detached and detached houses. I do not think the 8,000 apartment units would be part of this tranche, because the current demand is for more conventional houses.

We will work with NAMA to see the best option. The Deputy has, rightly, stated the concerns attached to this proposal and these are matters on which the Minister will reflect before coming to a final decision. I appreciate the Deputy's remarks.

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