Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the Deputy has raised this issue because I checked the issue raised in the House yesterday by Deputy Boyd Barrett. The narrative I have received is somewhat different from that presented yesterday. For example, during Leaders' Questions, I think Deputy Boyd Barrett made reference to the article in the Business Poston properties located in Finglas, several of which were reported to have been vacant. NAMA does not own the apartments in question, rather it acquired the debtor's loans which were secured by various apartments located in a larger development in Finglas. The apartments were controlled by a receiver who was appointed in December 2012. While the apartments had been completed prior to NAMA acquiring the loans, the receiver discovered after his appointment that the apartments were not fully compliant with relevant health and safety requirements and needed necessary remediation works, which were funded by NAMA. NAMA provided in excess of €10 million in funding to the receiver in order to remediate the apartments. This remediation commenced in 2017. Some 26 of the apartments which were remediated first were left vacant in order to temporarily house tenants who had to vacate other apartments in the wider development while the remediation works were being carried out on the units they occupied. That is much different from what was presented yesterday. This is standard practice and ensures tenants are appropriately accommodated in the same location while works are under way on their homes. These remediation works were not fully completed until 2020. At this point, unexpected delays were encountered due to the pandemic and the need to resolve complex legal issues, inter alia, with Dublin City Council, which were not resolved until June of this year. These issues impeded the receiver's ability to lease or sell the apartments sooner. As a result the apartments were not leased prior to being placed on the open market by the receiver this June. Before placing the units on the market, NAMA confirmed with Dublin City Council that it had no appetite to acquire the units. While NAMA does not own residential properties, it ensures its debtors and receivers keep vacant periods in residential properties to a minimum. The presentation of this yesterday differs significantly from the facts there.

There is a wider issue with respect to NAMA's overall role and the legislation that underpinned the creation of the agency was fundamentally different from that in terms of the housing situation and the situation we are currently in. NAMA has on previous occasions offered blocks of housing and apartments to local authorities. Some have been taken up and some have not been. There is an ongoing issue, which we will keep under review, with how NAMA evolves in the coming while and the contribution it can make to helping with the provision of more housing and resolving the housing crisis.

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