Leadership

Department of Finance rejects claim of NAMA delay

12.11.2009
The Department of Finance has denied the claim by Fine Gael Seantor Eugene Regan that NAMA will delayed by at least two months as European Commission approval is required before the new agency can get up and running.

A spokesperson for the department told the Irish Times that they were not expecting any lengthy delay in having NAMA approved by the European Commission.

The spokesperson told the paper that the Department of Finance had been in regular contact with the Commission throughout the process of establishing NAMA, and that the valuation methodology the new agency is using to price the assets it is to take off the balance sheets of Irish banks is in accordance with European Commission guidelines.

Regan said yesterday that the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD had confirmed to the Seanad that EU Commission approval is still required before NAMA can start up its operations.

This, he claimed, will cause a lengthy delay of at least two months before NAMA can begin its work.

Regan also said he had no doubt that the EU Commission, if it approves NAMA, will impose strict conditions in relation to valuations, haircuts and the divesting of banks’ assets as in the case of AIB and Bank of Ireland.

He also raised the question of whether Anglo Irish Bank would be allowed to enter NAMA under EU rules: “As no state aid is permitted for companies which are deemed to be unviable this raises serious question marks about the participation of Anglo Irish Bank in NAMA.

“The requirement for rigorous scrutiny and approval by the Commission makes the future of the entire NAMA project by no means certain,” Regan said.

“Contrary to what Fianna Fáil and the Greens would have us believe, NAMA is not even close to being signed, sealed and delivered, with a long way to go before the project becomes a reality,” he added.

The Bill to establish NAMA is due to be passed by the Seanad today. It will then go back to the Dáil for a final vote this afternoon as a number of amendments have been made to the Bill by the Seanad.

Following Dáil approval, the NAMA Bill will then pass to President Mary McAleese before it becomes law.