Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2017
126. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Finance to outline the spending commitments or paying down of debt that the Government has entered into with regard to the profits arising from the winding down of NAMA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8107/17]
View answerI would like to refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 122 and 123 of 24 May 2016 which also address these questions.
Currently NAMA expects to redeem 100% of its guaranteed senior debt by the end of 2017 and expects to redeem its subordinated debt in March 2020. NAMA will focus on completing its ongoing deleveraging, its Dublin Docklands SDZ and residential funding programmes in the interim period to 2020. NAMA's most recent annual statement which provides further insight into the Agency's expectations regarding these activities was laid before the Dail on 2 November 2016 and is also available on NAMA's website. As the Deputy will be aware, it is through the successful completion of these objectives that NAMA currently projects a surplus in the region of €2.3 bn to be returned to the State once it completes it work.
As per section 60(2) of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA may use surplus funds to redeem and cancel its debt. Surplus funds may only be returned to the Central Fund once NAMA's debt has been redeemed in full.
Any NAMA surplus paid into the Exchequer will be recorded in line with Eurostat rules and would likely be deemed a once-off capital receipt under non-tax revenue in the Financial Statements of the Exchequer.
It will be a decision for the Government as to how any surplus returned by NAMA will be utilised.
It has always been the Government's intention to use such receipts from the resolution of the financial sector crisis to pay down our debt and help reduce our debt servicing costs. Given the uncertainty around the specific timing of or the amount that will be realised, such receipts have not been included our debt forecasts. Debt reduction underpinned by our lower national debt target of 45 per cent of GDP, will increase the resilience of the public finances to deal with any potential shocks which may emerge.
