Results 20,901-20,920 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: There are no confidentiality issues or the like.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: Once they are out of NAMA, can they talk freely?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: It is good to have that on the record.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: I have two final brief questions. Is there a wind-up or exit strategy prepared by the board to deal with the end game for NAMA? The staffing issue has been discussed already at length, but is there a plan for the wind-up of NAMA?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: My final question is on an issue that was discussed earlier. I was watching some of the proceedings on the monitor. Up to 90% of the assets have been bought by US funds. On the one hand, NAMA says that what the purchaser does with the assets subsequent to buying them is a commercial matter for themselves, but on the other hand it says that if it knew they were going to make decisions that...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: However, it does not ask. It is not a consideration.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: Would NAMA ask it what its plans are for the assets?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: I am conscious of the time and the length of time our guests have been here but I have a few brief questions. I submitted question No. 12 on page 9 regarding the cost of receivers. The information in the reply is that NAMA has spent almost €77 million on insolvency practitioners, which I assume refers to receivers and liquidators which have been appointed at NAMA's behest, and that...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: In Killarney in particular.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: To be frank, we are expecting that bonus. It is not really a bonus because when NAMA was established massive losses were crystalised on the balance sheets of the banks, which were then filled by recapitalisation. Any surplus that NAMA can return will reduce the net liability to the State. We want it to achieve a surplus in terms of its return. As I am sure it has forecast this, I will put...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: That is based on certain assumptions.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: Does NAMA always sell to the highest bidder?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: If, for example, a receiver appointed by NAMA is selling a house and one person offers cash while another offers a higher sum subject to loan approval which might take two weeks, how does NAMA weigh this up?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: The primacy of selling to the highest bidder is subject to two conditions. The buyer must, first, have access to finance and, second, not insist on unreasonable conditions. We need to tease that out because Mr. McDonagh keeps reiterating the obligation on NAMA under section 10 to achieve the best financial return to the State. Have there been cases in which NAMA has not accepted the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: If somebody made a higher bid, would he or she be given a reasonable period with a strict deadline to come up with the funding?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: What kinds of conditions might NAMA find unreasonable?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: It is where NAMA believes there is a risk that the higher bid might not materialise for one reason or another.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: That is a clear and measurable risk but in all other cases, the highest bidder wins.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: NAMA has conducted €17.5 billion worth of asset sales. How much of that involves sales to foreign owned funds, for example, private equity funds? I apologise that I did not give notice of that question in advance.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functions: National Asset Management Agency (22 Oct 2014)
Michael McGrath: I assume these are private equity funds rather than private purchasers.