Rory Hearne: Why is Nama not being used to address housing emergency?

The failure to use land owned by Nama to resolve the housing crisis is a failure of government policy, writes Dr Rory Hearne

Nama's headquarters in the Treasury Building Dublin. The state-owned agency has €1.2bn in funding reserves and 577 hectares of residential development land that could accommodate 80,000 homes. 

If I told you a state-owned agency had the land and finance to build 80,000 homes, and owned thousands of apartments, but was selling it off to cuckoo fund investors, and in the private market at inflated prices. You would be rightfully annoyed and wonder why is that state agency not using its land and housing to provide social and affordable housing? 

Well Nama, the National Asset Management Agency, is that state agency.