Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

Many people would share the Deputy's views and concerns. However, NAMA had to make a pragmatic business decision on this. The alternative is to get in experts on credit to run the business, and we have experience of those already with NAMA assets that have gone into receivership. The receivers are a fine body of people but they charge €180 per hour. That amount over the year is far higher than the cost of the developer, who knows the assets, running the system under strict controls. Again, the range of salaries is between €75,000 and €100,000. There are two salaries above that; one is between €100,000 and €200,000 and one is €200,000. They manage billions of euro worth of assets and run them in a very tight situation. A business plan must be agreed first and there is a great deal of negotiation whereby assets that are transferred out of the control of the company must be restored and so forth.

I am satisfied in general that what NAMA is doing at present is appropriate but it must be constantly under review. Where developers have broken the terms of their business plans, the arrangement has ceased and some of those companies have gone into receivership.

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