Mr. Jerry Beades:

It varies. I know of one case where €1 million or €2 million was owed and €6,000 was the figure. The man in question has nothing but €6,000 was offered to enable them to walk away and it was accepted. I talked to private people who have bought this debt, including some from NAMA. They got portfolios for nothing because they were seen as having no value. In one instance involving NAMA, land sold for €1 million has now been rezoned by a county council and is worth €1 million per acre, resulting in a loss to the State of some €100 million. The committee should be tracking this land going forward. NAMA was set up to sweat these assets for 20 years but, in the rush by the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, to be the good boy and close down NAMA before the most recent election, massive decisions were made to dispose of assets at absolutely ridiculous values, meaning that land is being rezoned at enormous sums.