I never claimed its aim was to fund or incentivize housebuilding - in fact not only was NAMA emblematic of the overall government policy to restrict supply in o

I never claimed its aim was to fund or incentivize housebuilding - in fact not only was NAMA emblematic of the overall government policy to restrict supply in order to re-bolster its portfolio of residential housing in deep negative-equity, it also played a significant role in worsening the housing crisis through its sale of assets to real estate investment trusts (REITs). https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/housing-crisis-why-nama-should-be-asked-to-do-more-to-alleviate-the-shortage-1.2017674 https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/housing-crisis-why-nama-s... You can think back a decade as you say, but your recollection isn't in accordance with the recorded protests at the time https://www.independent.ie/news/protesters-call-for-nama-funds-to-be-used-to-resolve-housing-crisis/34139865.html https://www.independent.ie/news/protesters-call-for-nama-fun... Dr Rory Hearne's research from Maynooth sums it up brilliantly "The housing crisis has also been caused by wider government policy from 2010 to encourage the entry of global investors and vulture funds (via various tax incentives, lobbying and fire sale of assets) into Ireland in order to offload toxic loans from NAMA and the banks. Rising house prices and rents post 2013 were also viewed positively and were promoted as an enticement to investors, while rising prices and rents were also viewed positively for rehabilitating the balance sheets of the banks, a core aim of all policy post 2008. The impact on the housing system was not considered an issue, despite myself and others highlighting the potential problems. We can see now that these policies have contributed directly to the crisis with vulture funds hoarding land purchased from NAMA. Vulture funds are more likely to repossess houses in mortgage arrears and raise rents on buy to let properties (for example, Ireland's biggest landlord Ires Reit has raised rents substantially). The increase in investors purchasing homes means they are competing with potential home owners. We need to cool off this speculative inflow of investors into our housing system (investors bought up to a fifth of all homes in 2017) and extend the vacant sites tax to derelict property and increase it further to force either sale or development." https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spotlight-research/why-fixing-irelands-housing-crisis-requires-change-policy https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/research/spotlight-researc...