Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. We heard the allegations and concerns about the sale of the Northern Ireland loan book of NAMA. Major concerns have been expressed in the House and there have been allegations about people receiving payments from American companies which wish to acquire assets held by NAMA in the North.

In April 2014 Cerberus bought Project Eagle for £1.2 billion. It was the sale of the century. As part of that, it has been claimed that £7 million found its way into an Isle of Man account allegedly connected to a politician or political party in the North. The key point is that there has been 20% negative equity on property and a 30%, 40% or 50% drop in value, but a cut of 80% or 90% or even higher in the value of assets would be very unusual.

Deputy Twomey referred constantly to business people in the North of Ireland and stated it was a matter for the North. It is a matter for taxpayers in Ireland because the shortfall between what the properties cost the Irish taxpayer and what they were eventually sold for in one block has been met by the taxpayer. The fire sale is very much a matter for Irish taxpayers.

The Minister for Finance spoke about the best offer being taken up, but that misses the point. The point is that it was a fire sale of a complete portfolio. The fact is that NAMA has been established as a long-term project and I cannot for the life of me see why large property portfolios were not broken into smaller lots and dealt with more transparently. It is to be hoped some of this will be clarified during the course of the PSNI investigation into the allegations and other inquiries, including that being carried out by the Assembly committee, which is headed by Sinn Féin Assembly Member Dathaí McKay. There are also committee hearings in the Oireachtas.

It is clear that the attempt to insinuate that there was some sinister knowledge on the part of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was an attempt to muddy the waters and score a political point against Sinn Féin, and there is nothing new there. The amendment we have tabled calls on NAMA and the Minister for Finance to attend the Assembly finance committee inquiry to give evidence on the matter, which should not be too difficult. It would be very easy for the Minister to drive a couple of hours up the road, attend the committee hearing and give his version of events.

We also want to see an independent commission of investigation established to conduct a full and proper examination of the facts surrounding the sales process of the Northern loan book portfolio, Project Eagle, for the Government to establish a deadline for the completion of the report by the commission of investigation into NAMA and for its findings be debated in the House within two weeks of the publication of the report. These things should not drag on forever. That is the only way we can get to the truth quickly and debate the matter here.

On the broader issue of NAMA, this affair highlights the fact that valuable assets which could have been used to much greater economic and social benefit have been sold off to what some would describe as vulture funds at less than what could have been achieved. That is not to deny the fact that property values fell. They had to because of the artificially inflated prices during the madness of the term of the previous Government and the bubble of the Celtic tiger.

In a recent Private Members' motion we tabled, we proposed that property and land held by NAMA be used to address the housing crisis, something we sincerely believe. We proposed that the empty buildings on NAMA's books be refurbished to provide emergency accommodation for those people who unfortunately find themselves forced into bed and breakfast accommodation and, in some cases, sleeping on the streets outside the Houses. I find that embarrassing and feel very bad about it as a Deputy. If one walks around any of the streets in the late evening one sees people lying in doorways. We are not doing enough to address that problem, but we have the opportunity to do so, using a publicly owned company which holds publicly owned property.

I am not convinced we are doing enough to turn some of this property into residential accommodation. Given that NAMA holds these assets and is, in effect, publically owned, there is no reason some of them cannot be utilised in such a manner, particularly given that some of them have lain empty for years without attracting any great interest up to now. It is also important to examine the issue of who is buying or likely to buy NAMA held property. We have seen examples where blocks of property, in particular blocks of apartments, have been sold at knockdown prices. One example is a block of apartments in Corrig Glen in Portarlington which are in NAMA. They have been sitting there for a long time. I recognise that not all of them are suitable for social housing, but some of them are suitable for downstairs social housing and duplex apartments could be used for affordable housing. If they are sold in bulk it could be for a very small amount of money. Everybody in here knows that if people on modest wages got an opportunity to buy them and were able to access a loan at good interest rates it would put them in a position of being able to acquire their own house and sort out their own housing solution, and some of the apartments could be used for social housing.

The important issue this evening is that of the Northern Ireland portfolio, but I ask that the overall thrust of what NAMA is being directed to do with regard to dealing with these property portfolios be examined, and that we take a more long-term view of how we utilise the properties we have, whether commercial or residential. There is significant demand for residential property and I ask the Government to review this and talk to NAMA about it again to ensure the property is being utilised for the best purposes with regard to taxpayers and those on the housing waiting lists.

I call on Deputies to support our amendment. We have tried to improve on the motion submitted by Fianna Fáil, and I hope Deputies throughout the House will support it. I cannot see why anybody would refuse to do so, or would be in any way weak willed about supporting the amendment. I hope the amendment is backed tomorrow evening.

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