Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Hindsight is a great gift, but was it wrong for NAMA to dispose of €17.5 billion of assets at this point in time, given that property prices are increasing? It is an asset management not an asset disposal agency. While there may be political considerations around disposing early, NAMA has until 2020 to redeem these bonds. I understand that there are benefits in terms of debt risk etc., but this year alone in Dublin where the primary focus is in terms of properties against which the loans are secured there has been an increase of 23%. However, €17.5 billion of assets were sold at a time when the market was falling or increasing gradually. If one was to dispose of those assets today, one would receive a great deal more value for them.