Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I will try to finish up on this point. When NAMA was set up by the previous Government, there was a lot of outrage. I do not blame the officials of NAMA, who are charged with securing a return to the State. There was outrage that developers were going to walk away with a reduction in the debt they owed to banks such as AIB, Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland. It was categorically said that this would not happen, that it would not be a write-down for developers and that the loans were purchased at a reduced level, with the developers to be pursued to the end of the earth for the full amount. What has happened with €1.9 billion of loans being sold is that the developers, or at least the State, has written off a portion of that money. It is a write-down for developers because the third-party may not pursue them, as NAMA is mandated to, in order to recoup all of the €72 billion.

It is important to be honest. This is happening at a time when hundreds of thousands are looking for the banks to give them a write-down. They did not cause any problems in terms of the economic crisis and cannot get leeway from the banks yet an institution of the State, NAMA, is selling loans at a write-down and crystallising a loss on the NAMA books.

With regard to personal guarantees, for how long is NAMA pursuing personal guarantees?