Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 September 2011
83 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if the National Asset Management Agency has yet initiated any legal proceedings to reverse the transfer of assets by NAMA debtors to spouses or other family members; if he will provide details of the number of such transfers which have been reversed voluntarily by NAMA debtors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25519/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt a recent meeting of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, the Chief Executive of NAMA pointed out that, having been through the business plans of debtors which account for close to 75% of NAMA debt, he does not consider that there is a ‘huge pot of gold' that can be recovered through legal proceedings to reverse asset transfers by NAMA debtors. I am informed by NAMA, however, that most of the debtors who engaged in such transfers are co-operating with it as regards a voluntary reversal of asset transfers.
As negotiations are ongoing with many debtors and assets are being re-valued at current prices, it is not yet possible to determine the final valuation of reversed asset transfers. In a number of cases where debtors are refusing to co-operate, it has been necessary for NAMA to adopt a number of approaches, depending on the legal advice received in each particular case. This may involve the pursuit of personal guarantees through the courts and, in some cases, will require litigation to reverse asset transfers where the original intention appears to have been to place the assets concerned beyond the reach of NAMA.
84 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the percentage of loans in value terms in the National Asset Management Agency that are currently described as performing loans, and if he will define if that means paying interest, capital or both. [25520/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe NAMA Quarterly Report for Q1 of 2011 states that 23% of loans (by value) are performing. Performing loans are defined in the Report as loans which are not in arrears because interest and principal is being received in line with contractual obligations or where, if there are arrears, they are outstanding for less than 30 days. The NAMA Quarterly Report for Q2 is scheduled to be delivered to me by the end of this month and I will thereafter arrange for it to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
85 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if the National Asset Management Agency has sought to invoke any personal guarantees in respect of its debtors in the courts. [25521/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraNAMA has confirmed to me that it is engaged in a number of such proceedings but is constrained from commenting in specific detail as these matters are before the courts.
86 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if any persons in the National Treasury Management Agency, including National Asset Management Agency, have taken a reduction in basic pay since 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25522/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe overall remuneration of NTMA senior management has been reduced very substantially this year due to their waiving of the performance-related element of their remuneration in respect of 2010. The public sector pension deduction provided for in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 applies to all NTMA staff. While the NTMA was not subject to the general reductions in salaries provided for in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009, in 2010 it secured a reduction of some 8% in overall payroll costs, on a like-for-like basis compared with the previous year, through a reduction in the performance-related element of overall remuneration. In 2011, it secured a further reduction of almost 3% in overall payroll costs, again on a like-for-like basis.
Staff recruited by the NTMA and assigned to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) in 2010 and 2011 have been recruited on specified-purpose contracts — their term of employment lasts for as long as NAMA requires their particular function.
It is my intention to examine the approach to remuneration in the NTMA in more detail in the coming months following consultation with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I will then see what changes, if any, might be appropriate in relation to the remuneration of all staff in the NTMA, having regard to the changing economic circumstances of the State and the need for transparency in public expenditure.
