Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The initial preparations for the establishment and operation of NAMA are being managed by a steering group. The group is tasked with overseeing the preparation of the legislation in parallel to the practical preparations for the establishment of NAMA and is made up of representatives of the Department of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General and the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA. The Government's approach to the unprecedented crisis in global financial markets has been structured and considered at all times.

There have been no significant changes to the proposals for NAMA that I announced on 7 April. At that stage I was quite clear that the details would be complex and would take time to work through, not least because of the potential difficulties that had to be dealt with from the operational, legal and constitutional perspectives. These details are still being worked through by the steering group I established for the purpose of overseeing the preparation of the legislation in parallel to the practical preparations for the establishment of NAMA.

Substantial progress has been made in the practical preparations for the establishment of NAMA in tandem with the drafting of legislation to establish the agency on a statutory basis and it is my intention to publish the legislation towards the end of this month.

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