Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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66. To ask the Minister for Finance given the current housing crisis, why social housing comprises only 10% of the housing stock to be delivered by the National Asset Management Agency; if this conflicts with recent commitments to increase the supply of social housing and given the agency's capacity to supply housing stock, if he will task it to increase this percentage as a matter of urgency. [44443/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I must first point out to the Deputy that NAMA does not directly deliver housing. In cases where residential development is commercially viable, NAMA funds such development in order that its debtors and receivers can maximise their repayment of debt and deliver a surplus to taxpayers. I am advised that, as part of any NAMA-funded residential development, NAMA debtors and receivers will abide by their Part V obligation to deliver 10% of the stock as social housing.

It is neither equitable nor feasible to impose different social housing obligations on developers, based purely on their sources of development finance. To impose on a NAMA debtor a higher obligation to deliver social housing than is imposed, for instance, on a developer who is funded by a bank or who has access to other sources of finance, would be arbitrary and discriminatory. From the perspective of a NAMA debtor, their capacity to redeem their debt is a primary consideration and imposing additional obligations over and above the obligations that are imposed on a debtor outside NAMA would reduce their capacity to repay their debt.

As I recently pointed out in Parliamentary Question 171 of 8 December 2015, NAMA cannot subvent the supply of social housing. Section 10 of the NAMA Act requires NAMA to act in a commercial manner to obtain the best financial return for taxpayers. In line with NAMA's obligations under Section 10, all residential projects will be required to pass a stringent commercial viability threshold before NAMA approves funding and funding will only be made available if it is expected to increase the overall recovery for NAMA from the security being funded. NAMA must act akin to a private sector commercial entity.

Furthermore, NAMA has already played a very important role in facilitating, on a commercial basis, the supply of houses and apartments for social housing from within its existing portfolio. By the end of this year, NAMA will have facilitated the supply of 2,000 houses and apartments for social housing through its debtors and receivers. This equates to more than one-third of total social housing provision under Part V (Social Housing) legislation in the years between 2002 and 2011. It should also be noted that NAMA originally made over 6,500 houses and apartments available for social housing under this commercial initiative but local authorities confirmed demand for just over 2,500 of these.

The core housing issue we face is that of insufficient supply of housing generally, which impacts the supply of social housing, starter homes and all other categories of housing, particularly in the greater Dublin area. Any contribution to the overall supply of housing will therefore have a positive impact for housing across all categories. Therefore, NAMA's contribution to the housing market and by association social housing is timely and welcome.

NAMA's commercial funding programme, being an independent and commercial initiative, does not contradict or lessen the Government's commitment to deliver on our Social Housing 2020 strategy. We are also combining these long term measures with interim solutions to deal with the immediate issues that families currently face. This is why Budget 2016 increased the current allocation for social housing by €69 million to €414 million. This will enable local authorities to secure accommodation for an additional 14,000 households.

Under the Government's 6 year capital investment framework, "Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016-2021", which was recently announced by Minister Howlin, the current allocation for emergency accommodation for the homeless, has been increased by €17 million. This increase will bring Exchequer support to €70 million, which amounts to a 56% increase since last year. This injection of funding will help the homeless transition to long term sustainable housing.

The Government also recently agreed on a package of measures designed to give certainty to tenants in relation to their rent, to better protect tenants in their homes and to provide clarity to both tenants and landlords as regards their rights and obligations. The primary measure in this package is the amendment of the Residential Tenancies Act so that rent reviews for all tenancies will take place every 24 months, rather than every 12 months as currently is the case. This will provide tenants with a longer period of predictable rent.

Therefore, addressing the issues facing the housing market generally, social housing, and homelessness, particularly among families, are clearly key priorities for this Government and I can assure the Deputy that NAMA's residential funding programme are complementary to, rather than in lieu of, the Government's commitments.