Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have raised this issue on a number of occasions but I still cannot obtain a straight answer. The Minister of State is not answering the question that has been put to her. Why has NAMA only managed to identify 2,000 suitable units out of a possible 340,000 empty units? Those 2,000 units are not going to help reduce the numbers on the housing lists. Why is the Minister of State expanding a policy under which we will be leasing properties on a long-term basis from developers and NAMA rather than pursuing a social housing policy which would lead to the State accruing rental revenues and saving €580 million per year? What is being done makes no sense, particularly at a time when the Government has stated that it is seeking to make savings. It is crazy.

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