Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I begin by acknowledging the seriousness with which the Minister and the Government are dealing with this issue and the multifaceted approach that is being taken. The Minister has set out the range of measures to be taken, some of which have already been implemented. However, problems remain. In the time available to me, I will focus on a particular aspect of housing, namely, the role played by the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, in the sector.

NAMA is one of the largest property companies in the world and has a major bearing on the recovery of the property market and construction sector in this country via the manner in which it does its business. The Minister indicated that housing units have been identified by the agency and are in the process of being transferred to local authorities to form part of their social housing stock. I welcome that as part of alleviating the shortage of housing. However, as NAMA embarks upon its major plan to construct residential and commercial units, we must have clarification as to what empirical evaluation of market demand has been conducted. It is not so long ago that all the talk was of an oversupply of houses, with suggestions that properties at various locations would have to be torn down. That seems incredible now. We must be sure we are building the right properties in the right areas at the right time.

Earlier today, representatives of the not-for-profit think thank, Property Industry Ireland, appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht to discuss issues pertaining to supply and demand in both the residential and commercial property markets. While the witnesses welcomed the Government strategy set out in Construction 2020, they pointed out that there is often a gap in the property market data available to Government and other stakeholders which can result in issues in the market being pursued in a vacuum. For example, the Central Statistics Office will publish house price data tomorrow which will refer only to properties purchased using a mortgage. Information on cash transactions, which now account for 50% of all house purchases, will not be included. We have had no further data from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government since it released information last February on the number of commencement notices for new developments received by local authorities. These examples illustrate the gaps in information, which is something the Minister might address in due course.

We need to know what strategies NAMA intends to pursue to ensure a steady stream of supply of new housing units to the market on a yearly basis, which shovel-ready landbanks for development belonging to developers it has under its control, and to what extent such developers are either being assisted or impeded in developing those sites. Has NAMA been restricting supply and, if so, how has this contributed to the property bubble now arising in Dublin and other parts of the country? Of course, if right were right and we were heading back to what could be classed as normal in the construction industry, the business of developing and finance would be a matter between banks and builders. The banks, however, have no money to lend to builders and, instead of that issue being sorted out, NAMA is embarking upon development with no track record in this regard.

Of particular concern in all of this is NAMA's treatment of developers, the very people who have the expertise and experience to deliver the massive housing projects we desperately need to address our housing and homelessness crisis. What is happening, however, is that NAMA is bringing many of these developers to their knees. In its strategic review, the agency admits that at this stage, it is now having to deal with debtor fatigue, that is, cases where developers are so fed up and worn out from dealing with the State body that they are opting for insolvency or bankruptcy. It says a great deal about NAMA that many of these developers are running into the arms of vulture funds and taking their chances with the future of their businesses and livelihoods. It must be pretty terrible for these developers in NAMA.

Mr. Justice Brian Cregan's High Court judgment in the Flynn case was a damning indictment of NAMA. He ruled that the State agency had acted unfairly and unlawfully in calling in loans of €22 million from property developer John Flynn and his family. This case raises serious issues of concern as to how NAMA conducts its business. Mr. Flynn has been reported as likening the workings of the agency to goings on in North Korea. In other words, developers under NAMA had better keep their mouths shut. I have raised on several occasions the need for an Oireachtas oversight committee to bring more transparency to the way in which NAMA does its business. In fact, such was envisaged when the legislation establishing the agency was introduced by the then Minister for Finance, the late Brian Lenihan. I urge that this oversight committee be put in place. In the interim, as I have suggested on several occasions, including in the wake of the Flynn judgment, these developers should be brought before the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform to give their side of the story. We cannot afford not to listen to what they have to say and learn from it as we seek to avoid another housing bubble and ensure every citizen of this country has a home.

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