NAMA HAS ANNOUNCED it is to pay out €3m to fund ‘urgent construction works’ in some of Ireland’s ghost estates.

A NAMA spokesman this morning confirmed that the money was being invested in ghost estates linked to loans held by NAMA, which is working with the government to address the problems in some of its estates.

“Whatever about longer-term solutions for the ghost estates issue, there is an urgent need to address particular problems in a number of these estates in the short-term,” the spokesman said.

“Our focus in the short term will be on financing work to addresses these problems while we develop longer-term solutions for the problem.”

The work is set to begin in September.

A survey of ghost estates published last year found that of the 221 ghost estates in the worst uncompleted condition, only 28 were built on credit now owned by NAMA.

Last month the agency’s chief executive Brendan McDonagh confirmed that the agency, and Ireland’s surviving banks, were considering converting some unfinished estates back to greenfield sites to increase their value.