Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 May 2012
53 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance if he will respond to correspondence regarding the National Asset Management Agency, banks, and household charge holiday homes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23206/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraNAMA is prohibited, by the legislation that established it and by the normal rules of banking confidentiality, from disclosing the identity of debtors or details of their properties. I am therefore unable to comment on the cases referred to in the details supplied. However, I am advised by NAMA that it has exposure to 121 of the over 900 operating hotels in Ireland and has exposure to 20 golf courses, mainly attached to the aforementioned hotels, of which there are over 400 in the country. These figures show that despite perception to the contrary NAMA debtors have relatively small exposures to the hospitality sector and it could therefore be argued that the Agency's impact on the overall viability of the sector tends to be exaggerated. Furthermore, I am advised that complaints about NAMA loans which have hotels as security have been received by the Competition Authority. NAMA engaged openly with the Authority in its investigations of these complaints and I understand that as a result of the information it received from NAMA, the Competition Authority chose not to pursue these complaints further.
