Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Swedish Minister for Finance has said the Swedish model is entirely different from what the Minister proposes and it was based on tough hard-nosed approach to valuation, again something which the Minister rejects. The IMF warned of the pitfalls of seeking to avoid nationalisation as a guiding principle of policy and so forcing the State to engage in this charade of evaluations - again that advice is not being heeded. Patrick Honohan asked for a risk sharing mechanism that did not leave subordinated bonds of questionable value on the banks' balance sheets but instead forced the shareholders and the investors to take risk in NAMA. That advice has not been heeded. The IMF in its study said that state-run politically controlled asset recovery management systems are not successful. Its advice is not being heeded. Serious international players are offering their views but those views are not being embodied in the Bill before us. That is something we cannot afford to ignore. There are precedents for a different approach. France embarked on the NAMA approach in the case of Crédit Lyonnais and 64% of the money was lost.

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