There is a commitment in the programme for Government to support young couples and families to purchase their own homes and to provide affordable housing. At the moment NAMA has thousands of sites right across the country. There is a development in west Dublin involving 180 houses that are supposed to be affordable homes. NAMA is selling the sites to the builder, which is fine and he is paying NAMA as the houses are sold. Unfortunately, every one of the houses has been purchased by a vulture fund. Young people and couples are not even getting a chance to purchase the houses. The vulture funds are renting the houses for €2,200 per month. I imagine that after some years the houses will be sold on with massive profits to those people.

There are NAMA sites all over the country. In 1947 the Government of the day built 58 houses in my home town and those good, solid structures are still standing. More than 1,000 houses were built at the time in Sligo. That was done after the war when people were on their knees. Unless the Government starts to build houses for people they will be caught in the rental trap for the rest of their lives.

NAMA has made thousands of properties available to local authorities around the country for social housing. However, not all such properties are suitable for social housing. The local authorities, working with the Housing Agency, will make the call on the properties that are offered. A significant number of houses have come from NAMA into the public or local housing system. In addition, we announced three separate affordability measures at the beginning of the year which are helping young couples and individuals to get new homes, which will happen as those homes are built over the course of this year, next year and the following year. Deputy Scanlon can send me a note on the particular scheme he is talking about and while NAMA does not come under the remit of my Department, I will raise the issue with it.