Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The par value of the loans acquired by NAMA was €74.4 billion. NAMA paid €31.8 billion for those. A point has been made that, within that payment of €31.8 billion, €5.6 billion was state aid. Effectively, it was the premium that NAMA paid over the current market value of the houses. The fact is that, having paid that €31.8 billion and having covered its costs over a ten-year period, for NAMA to yield a surplus is a kind of contribution back towards the difference between the par value and the acquisition value.