Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has already instructed the Department of Finance to examine this matter in consultation with the Central Bank. The Deputy will be aware that operating loans are being repaid at par value. The interest of acquirers of a portfolio of loans will be for loans that are not performing well. Every mortgage that is signed for has contractual obligations attached to it. Whoever will acquire the portfolio of loans will have to comply with those contractual arrangements that were set out when the mortgage was originally signed. The additional requirements in the code of conduct set out by the Central Bank are the basis of the instruction given by the Minister for Finance to the Department and the Central Bank to look at the option that might arise. Clearly it has been indicated that if NAMA were to acquire this portfolio of loans, it would apply best practice to them.

I know this is of concern to the people involved and I have heard the public reports, but the Minister for Finance is well aware of this and has given his instructions to the Department of Finance, in consultation with the Central Bank, to see what might be the best option in the event of whoever ultimately acquiring the portfolio of loans. If the State were to take a hit in going through these loans individually, it would be both complex and probably very time-consuming. If we look at the portfolio of loans in their entirety, several of them are performing well and are being repaid, and they are probably not of great interest to an acquirer because they are operating at par. It is the loans that are in difficulty that are of interest to them. That is the subject of discussions between the Department of Finance and the Central Bank.

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