Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

We adopted legislation on NAMA in this House on 12 November, at which point I indicated that this did not mean it was a done deal in that it had to be approved by the European Commission. I also asked the Leader if we would be kept informed in respect of the notification of the scheme to Brussels and whether it would diverge from the business plan of which the House was informed in October. I raised the matter again on 19 December with the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, when I asked if the NAMA legislation had been notified to the Commission. The Minister of State gave such an ambivalent answer that I had to inquire about the matter with the Commission. At that point there had been no such notification. It was made on 23 December and the legislation is now the subject of examination by the Commission. I met with it yesterday in Brussels, following a submission I had made in a statement of objections to NAMA in its current form. That submission will be presented to the Government by the Commission for its comments. I will be submitting further information to the Commission.

There are reports in the newspapers every day about valuations and changes in valuations. There are reports today about new legislation that may be required to facilitate banks participating in the operations of NAMA. We have made special arrangements to ensure NAMA will make money on the properties it will acquire. There have been reports about haircut budgets and whether the figure will be 30% or otherwise. The Leader indicated that the House would be kept informed. What scheme has been notified to the European Commission? There has been total secrecy about the decision last October to give a guarantee to the banks. There has also been secrecy about the banking inquiry. A €54 billion gamble on NAMA is too important to remain a secret. I, therefore, ask the Leader to inform the House what is happening with the scheme.