Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Finance. As Deputy Maloney knows, the Minister is otherwise engaged, but he has given me an extremely comprehensive answer to his question. The Deputy is correct; we were very dubious and cynical about NAMA, but it is seldom that we see an organisation set up to do a specific task hitting all its targets. That comes from a combination of factors.

The primary mandate given to NAMA by the Oireachtas is to recover, on behalf of the taxpayer, the consideration paid for the loans acquired from the five participating institutions in 2010 and 2011. Yesterday, NAMA announced that it had met its first major milestone in this regard, the redemption of €7.5 billion, or a quarter of its senior debt, by the end of 2013. The milestone attained yesterday is very significant not only for NAMA in terms of its own progress but also because it was a key troika target and it reinforces, at a critical time in our recovery, the very positive international perception of Ireland as a country that is resolutely addressing its difficulties and meeting its targets.

NAMA issued a total of €30.2 billion in senior bonds and yesterday's redemption leaves €22.7 billion outstanding. The NAMA board has set a target of redeeming another €7.5 billion in senior bonds by the end of 2016 and its expectation is that all senior debt will be redeemed by 2020, with the effect of removing this contingent liability of the Irish taxpayer. In order to meet its debt redemption targets, cash generation is key for NAMA. As of last Friday, NAMA had generated €15 billion in cashflows, including €10 billion in disposal receipts from property and loans sales and €5 billion in other income, mainly rental income from assets controlled by its debtors and receivers. NAMA has also secured over €800 million in additional security for debtors' loans by taking charges over previously unencumbered assets and by reversing transfers. Much of the cash generated has been applied towards repaying NAMA's senior debt and meeting its €7.5 billion target.

NAMA has also generated sufficient cash reserves to cover its costs, including debt interest and loan servicing fees. As the Deputy noted, that is a significant feat. It is important also to note that NAMA is self-funding, is not a draw on the Exchequer and therefore is not a burden for the Government in the context of its annual budgetary arithmetic. NAMA is also in a position, as a result of its strong performance, to invest in various commercial and residential projects which, when completed, are expected to yield returns to assist the economy. NAMA's strong cash performance is a result of its market activities and initiatives, which in turn are helping to stimulate transactions in the Irish property market and support investment and employment in the Irish economy.

I will set out some examples of NAMA's activities and initiatives and the impact these are having in the Irish economy. By approving asset sales by debtors and receivers, NAMA is releasing a substantial flow of properties into the market. Its debtors and receivers have sold more than 3,000 individual properties in Ireland to date and currently have over €2 billion of Irish residential and commercial property on the market.

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