NAMA Operations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 March 2014

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

Questions (67)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

67. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 211 of 18 February 2014, if he will confirm that the National Asset Management Agency has foreclosed on 19 debtor connections in Northern Ireland out of a total of 180 such connections; if he will confirm that elsewhere, NAMA has foreclosed on 261 debtor connections out of a total of 670 such connections; if he agrees with the NAMA assessment of this as proportionate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11610/14]

Written answers

Minister for Finance

As the enforcement process may apply to part of a debtor connection but not necessarily all of it, a useful measure of NAMA enforcement activity is the number of properties or groups or properties which have been enforced.  NAMA advises it has taken enforcement action in respect to 2,209 properties or groups of properties, all of which are listed on the NAMA website, www.nama.ie. Some 1,998 or 90% of these properties are located in the Republic of Ireland, and 130 or 6% are in Northern Ireland. NAMA advises that it only takes enforcement action as a last resort and it is often in cases where a debtor has failed to cooperate or engage with them. The overall level of enforcement in the portfolio is 29% of loan value at year end 2013 which is not high given they inherited a distressed portfolio from the financial institutions.  I agree with NAMA's assessment that its enforcement in Northern Ireland is proportionate to the scale of its exposure to Northern Ireland debtors and properties and in line with the approach adopted in other jurisdictions in which it operates.