Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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11. To ask the Minister for Finance in view of the need for social housing and the changed property market, if he will change the mandate of the National Asset Management Agency strategy. [37048/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 10 of the NAMA Act outlines clearly the primary objective that the legislature set for NAMA, namely that it achieves the best financial return for the State from the assets entrusted to it.  NAMA is making very significant progress by reference to this objective.  In my recent section 227 Review of NAMA, which the Deputy should be aware of, the NAMA Board have announced renewed debt redemption targets. By the end of this year, NAMA will have redeemed 50% of its senior debt, two years ahead of schedule, and expects to have redeemed 80% of its senior debt by the end of 2016 assuming that market conditions remain strong.  This progress is extremely important in ensuring that Irish taxpayers face no further losses from the banking and property market crash.  It is also extremely important in terms of generating confidence at home and abroad in Ireland's economic recovery.  In their recent decisions to upgrade Ireland's sovereign credit rating, both Standard and Poor's and Moody's highlighted the faster rate at which NAMA is paying down its debt and reducing Ireland's contingent liability.  NAMA is clearly achieving the mandate set for it by the Oireachtas and I do not propose any course of action that could impact on its ability to complete this important work on behalf of Irish taxpayers.

It is not part of NAMA's statutory remit to supply social housing.  Nonetheless, and consistent with its commercial objectives, NAMA is making a very significant contribution in facilitating the delivery of social housing through the Housing Agency to local authorities and approved housing bodies.  It has made 5,455 houses and apartments available to local authorities and approved housing bodies for social housing.  These 5,455 units constitute one third of the completed housing stock held in Ireland by NAMA's debtors and receivers and almost all of NAMA's unoccupied housing stock.  NAMA has also invested over €20m to date in finishing, refurbishing and fitting out these homes for delivery as social housing where local authorities have confirmed demand.   

NAMA has no role in determining the take-up of properties that it has made available for social housing as this is a matter for local authorities.  However, NAMA has introduced a number of initiatives to streamline the delivery of homes for which demand has been confirmed.  This includes the establishment of a special purpose vehicle, National Asset Residential Property Services Ltd. (NARPS), to expedite the delivery of housing.  Through NARPS, NAMA acquires houses and apartments from debtors and receivers and directly leases them to approved housing bodies under long-term leasing arrangements - reducing the initial capital outlay required from the approved housing bodies.  In conjunction with the establishment of NARPS, NAMA worked with the housing bodies and introduced standardised leasing terms to further streamline the process.  Both these initiatives are working extremely well. 

Of the 5,455 properties made available by NAMA, local authorities have confirmed demand for just over 2,000 units.  NAMA expects that it will exceed the target of delivering 1,000 of these homes for social housing by the end of 2014 with the remainder being delivered over the following 12-18 months.

NAMA has also signalled its intention to provide future Part V housing on NAMA-funded residential developments through its social housing SPV, National Asset Residential Property Services Ltd. (NARPS).  This is a very important initiative, which will mean that NAMA will bear the upfront capital cost of delivering Part V housing on estates for which it funds development and that such housing will be delivered on-site fully in accordance with Government policy in this area.

As the Deputy is aware, NAMA has stated that it will fund the delivery of some 4,500 new homes in the Dublin area over the period to end-2016. Furthermore, sites held by its debtors and receivers could provide a further 18,000 new homes in the Dublin area and significant additional housing in the other main urban centres in the period beyond 2016.  These numbers highlight the substantial contribution that NAMA could make, directly and indirectly, to the delivery of housing stock generally and as part of that, the delivery of social housing through Part V over the coming years.

I am satisfied therefore that, in the context of its overriding commercial mandate, NAMA is doing all that it can to facilitate the supply of social housing and I do not propose to make any changes to its mandate.  The statutory clarity given to NAMA by the Oireachtas in 2009 has been very important in guiding the Agency's work and progress to date and I am satisfied that the clarity provided by the fact that its mandate is primarily a commercial mandate has been an important factor in its success.