Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, section 227 of the NAMA Act 2009 requires me to complete a review of NAMA every five years. The purpose of the review is to assess the extent to which NAMA has made progress toward achieving its overall objectives and decide whether continuation of NAMA is necessary having regard to the purposes of the Act. As part of this review, my officials will examine NAMA's activity and performance with reference to the purposes of the Act, the purposes of NAMA under the Act and the objectives NAMA has established in regard to these purposes under the Act.  While section 227 of the Act intends a review based on activity to the end of 2012 and every five years thereafter, owing to the intervening promissory note transaction and the liquidation of IBRC which was originally expected to have a significant and lasting impact on NAMA's operations, the report is being published in 2014 and will consider activity up to the end of 2013 in making its assessments and recommendations.

This first publication of the section 227 report roughly coincides with the first publication of the section 226 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General which I laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas following the Government's meeting on 20 May.

As a result, the section 27 report will also benefit from the findings and recommendations of the section 226 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on NAMA's progress, as well as the soon to be published 2013 annual financial results of NAMA. 

The strategy and timing of NAMA's wind-down is one of the areas being examined as part of the review of NAMA being carried out by my Department.  In the context of this review, I have asked NAMA to evaluate its disposal timing and strategy in the context of current market demand and explore the advantages and disadvantages of accelerating its disposal strategy.  No decision will be taken on this matter until I receive feedback from NAMA on these points and my Department's review has been completed. My review of NAMA under section 227 of the National Asset Management Agency Act is well under way and I intend to lay the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas before the summer recess.

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