Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Minister agree the NAMA process is going far more slowly than predicted during the discussion on the Bill in this House? Most of us have heard the horror stories emerging from all sides in banking. A great number of distressed loans were undertaken with almost no collateral. There is great confusion about who has title to loans. Many loans were on foot of solicitors' undertakings that have not been properly completed. Professional advisers, at €240 million per year thanks to the generosity of the Minister, are crawling all over the loans. Professional advisers such as accountants, lawyers, estate agents, valuers, quantity surveyors and chartered surveyors cannot sign off these loans as high-quality loans when there is no proper title. Therefore, the NAMA process is effectively moving at a snail's pace. Does the Minister have a date for when he expects the NAMA process of transferring loans to commence?

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