Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 October 2018
33. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the number of loan sales by State backed banks he and his predecessor have been notified of and not raised an objection to since February 2016; the value of these sales; and the number of principal dwelling houses included. [44220/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will be aware that I, in my role as Minister for Finance, cannot stop loan sales, even by the banks in which the State has a shareholding. The same stipulation applied to my predecessor. Decisions relating to loan sales, including the composition of loans included, are the responsibility of the Board and management of the banks which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The banks’ independence is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding documents which the Minister cannot change unilaterally. These frameworks, which are publicly available, were insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market.
I can confirm that the banks consulted with the Minister for Finance on the following loan sales during the period specified by the Deputy:
AIB:
ROI Sales:
- Project Cypress: Value: c. €0.3bn pre-provision balance sheet amount. The portfolio did not include principle dwelling houses;
- Project Redwood: Value c. €1.1bn pre-provision balance sheet amount. The portfolio did not include principle dwelling houses.
UK Sales:
- Project Rosetta: Value: c. £0.1bn pre-provision balance sheet amount. The portfolio did not include principle dwelling houses;
- Project Pine: Value c. £0.3bn pre-provision balance sheet amount. The portfolio did not include principle dwelling houses
PTSB:
- October 2016 – Sale of Isle of Man Performing UK residential mortgages originated in the Isle of Man with a gross value of c. £212m. No Irish PDH were included.
- November 2016 – Sale of Landsdowne Loan Book UK residential mortgages (pre-dominantly Buy-To-Let) originated in the UK with a gross value of c. UK£2.3bn. No Irish PDH were included
- July 2018 – Sale of Irish non-performing loans (Project Glas) with a gross value of c. €2.1bn and including 7,400 Irish PDH.
