Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The entire matter of NAMA needs to be reviewed. Beginning in March 2010, NAMA purchased loans from five banks for par value or the total borrower debt owed on them in October 2009, which amounted to €74.4 billion. It paid for the loans with NAMA bonds carrying a face value of €31.8 billion. As the bonds were guaranteed by the then Minister for Finance, they are effectively Government debts. However, to avoid NAMA debt appearing on the government balance sheet, NAMA was set up as a special purpose vehicle which allowed it to remain off the balance sheet under EURSTAT rules. Like the establishment of Irish Water, it is an accounting trick because the State is effectively on the hook for the debt. NAMA should really be counted as part of the national debt.

A breakdown of the par value of the loans for each bank reveals a significant discrepancy with what NAMA paid for them. NAMA was originally intended to turn a profit of €1 billion but one could argue that it has cost the taxpayer €40 billion.

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