Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. The issue of housing and NAMA is always a matter for discussion and should regularly be discussed in the Seanad and Dáil Éireann. As the Senator rightly said, the taxpayer heavily invested in bailing out the banks originally. As a preamble, the five banks the Senator mentioned that were bailed out and whose commercial loans were transferred to NAMA included Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, which were subsequently liquidated by the State and the Houses of the Oireachtas some time ago.

I want to clarify that the majority of the remaining land secured to NAMA does not have planning permission for housing and much of it is not currently suitable for residential development. It is important that the commentary regarding the amount of residential units that NAMA can deliver is fully cognisant of the factual position regarding NAMA's remaining portfolio and the restrictions under which the agency operates.

I am advised that NAMA debtors and receivers own an estimated 489 ha of land that is potentially suitable for residential development in Ireland between now and 2035. There is quite a time period involved in which all this could take place. At present, 63 ha of this land is under construction or has funding approved for construction. Of the remaining land, 63 ha have planning permission and planning applications have been lodged in respect of 26 ha. The remaining 337 ha do not yet have planning permission.

NAMA is not hoarding land. Since inception, NAMA debtors and receivers have sold or refinanced approximately 5,500 ha of residential zoned land with potential for 86,000 residential units, representing 71% of NAMA's original secured land bank. However, the majority of this land did not have zoning or planning permission for housing. Furthermore, NAMA is progressing delivery of residential units on all sites where it can, and has already facilitated the delivery of 22,500 new homes. Many of the sites in NAMA's portfolio are simply not suitable for residential development at present owing to a lack of appropriate planning, zoning or essential infrastructure and services such as roads, water, sewerage and utilities. The new taxes being introduced in the Finance Bill, which we discussed yesterday, deal with sites that have planning permission and are serviced and are capable of being built on. A site with appropriate zoning may not have planning or services. There may be no water or sewerage services and Irish Water may not be in a position to provide them in the short term. Just because there is land in NAMA does not mean it is suitable for residential development in the short term. Some of it may never be suitable for residential development.

Of the approximately 22,000 units which NAMA has identified for residential delivery between now and 2035, there are 1,500 units under construction or with funding approved for construction and 1,200 units which have been granted planning permission for which NAMA funding is under consideration. A further 1,500 units have been granted planning permission and will be sold or refinanced by NAMA debtors. There are 3,900 units in the planning system, with planning either lodged or being prepared.

The remaining land, with long-term potential of delivering 11,700 units have infrastructural needs, such as roads, water and sewerage, which will need to be addressed by local authorities and Irish Water. Accordingly, much of the delivery potential of the remaining portfolio can only occur over the medium to long term. Recognising this, NAMA aims to advance sites through the planning system to maximise the number of sites that are ready for future development.