Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

Our amendment proposes that the Minister "make appropriate assets available for public, community or social use either free or at a non-commercial cost, or transfer assets to appropriate statutory agencies to facilitate such use". We aired this idea last night when the Minister for Defence was present. We pushed it to a vote because we were not satisfied with his answer. Perhaps the Minister for Finance can provide a more satisfactory answer.

In the commuter belt and across the country many teenagers have no place to go and are at a loss for something to do for lack of facilities and money to rent or purchase premises to use as youth clubs, etc. We want to use NAMA to provide a social dividend for the people concerned. Is it possible to lease vacant properties for three or five years at peppercorn rents to youth clubs?

Such properties are likely to remain vacant for the next five years because of the absence of demand in the market. Will the Minister think about that, and if NAMA is not the appropriate vehicle to make these facilities available, what would he say to young people in Ashbourne or Drogheda or Dundalk? They have nowhere to go so they hang out on street corners and sometimes get into trouble for anti-social behaviour. What is the Minister's solution for that generation? Where should they go and how should they access facilities if the money is not available for them to rent or purchase premises?