NAMA Property Sales

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Questions (219)

Noel Grealish

Question:

219. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Finance since the initiation of the National Asset Management Agency the number of properties put on the open market; the guide price for same; the amount for which they were actually sold; the number of properties that were sold without being put on the open market; the guide price for same; for properties sold without putting them on the open market, the reason they were sold without being placed on the open market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33441/14]

Written answers

Minister for Finance

NAMA has a policy of openly marketing all properties by its debtors and receivers wherever feasible. The Deputy may wish to consider the Comptroller and Auditor General's (C&AG) Special Report dealing with NAMA's progress over the period 2010 to 2012, which was published in April 2014.  The Report is available on the NAMA website, www.nama.ie.  As part of this review, the C&AG examined the disposal process for properties with gross proceeds of €1 billion.  The C&AG concluded from this analysis that "almost all property disposals reviewed had been sold through an open competitive process or with testing of disposal prices against market valuation".  This, according to the C&AG, "provides reasonable assurance that the prices obtained were the best on offer in the market at the time the property was sold".  It is NAMA's policy that the sale of loans and the sale of assets by debtors and receivers are, wherever feasible, openly marketed so as to ensure the best return to the taxpayer.