Results 141-160 of 260 for nama speaker:Joan Burton

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...of this legislation gives enormous direct and reserved powers to the Minister for Finance when disputes about valuation arise. A dispute may arise if the advisers of a person who has assets in the NAMA process believe those assets are worth €1 billion, but NAMA's view is that they are worth €500 million in light of the collapse of the property market. One party to the dispute might...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: This is one of the most critical sections of the Bill because it is through this mechanism that the amounts NAMA will pay for certain loans, assets and so on can be jacked up to any number one might think of given that the two valuation principles are economic value and long-term economic value. I listened to Deputy Mulcahy say how much he expected property values to rise and rise. There...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: The powers provided to the Minister regarding the valuations and the valuation panel are seriously excessive and they constitute a significant threat that NAMA will overpay for assets. I was struck by the many contributions Deputy Fahey made on various Stages in which he expressed supreme confidence that the value of assets held in the US and the UK, for example, would increase rapidly. His...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: Section 12(2)(ac) makes provision for carrying on "any business that NAMA considers can be conveniently carried on in connection with any of its functions or is calculated directly or indirectly to enhance the value of or facilitate the realisation of or render profitable any of NAMA's property or rights". The Peter Bacon report on hotels found that up to 20,000 hotel rooms should be closed....

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...on the basis of tax breaks rather than medical considerations? The National Treatment Purchase Fund directs considerable volumes of money to private hospitals and the Bill provides that NAMA can inject capital funding of €5 billion into developments however it sees fit. I ask the Minister to comment on paragraph (ac) in that context.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...to have the full board involved in these areas. Audit, credit and risk management have specific, defined functions in banking. However, given the centrality of the finance function to everything NAMA will do, I do not understand the reason it is to be hived off. Credit and risk management committees in a bank are to provide oversight to ensure detailed decisions on specific developers or...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ..., because information was shunted off somewhere else they were along for the ride, an approach which resulted in some of the disasters we have experienced. At the commencement of Committee Stage, NAMA had a special purpose vehicle suddenly added with a week's notice. The financial structure of NAMA and the span of control, which is important from the perspective of it being a banking-type...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...done "subject to any prohibition in any applicable law". Under the legislation, Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society will transfer loans to NAMA. Anglo Irish Bank and INBS will account for €34 billion of the €54 billion being transferred.

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: The top ten to 15 developers listed in the Minister's draft NAMA management plan will be dealt with in the first 30 days and, therefore, possibly by Christmas. According to everything I have heard about Anglo Irish Bank, the top ten to 15 developers were heavily supported by this bank. Is that not so? I do not say the other institutions are not also involved with these developers but Anglo...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: Not only are Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide going into the NAMA process but there is also discussion in the media, and this is permissible under the Bill, about the possibility of institutions such as Ulster Bank having assets up to €15 billion parked in some kind of quarantine process which may, at some stage, enter the NAMA process. Given that Ulster Bank is owned by Royal Bank of...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...his officials on the use of tax havens in the organisational structure of banks? I include those banks which are in the guarantee scheme, and therefore automatically fall into the framework of the NAMA legislation, and the Irish subsidiaries of foreign owned banks which, we understand, may also apply. This is a perfectly clear question. What advice has he taken on this thorny problem?...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...Act as amended from time to time)" subject to any prohibition in any applicable law. The Minister said throughout the summer that the Attorney General, his officials, etc., worked very hard on NAMA, and I accept that they did. However, he did not see fit to bring this particular restriction on the requirements for information before this House. He put them in at the last minute in...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...as this is not relevant. What is relevant are the entities involved in these banks, the subsidiaries of these banks. The application must be to the Minister as stated in these sections and not to NAMA. I presume applications will be processed by NAMA but the Minister is the decision-maker in these sections. Unless the Minister is not as well-informed as I would have thought, I am sure...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...amendment and the comments of Deputy Gogarty because this amendment was put forward by the Labour Party to provide a context in which proper planning and development could inform any decisions of NAMA and be taken into account. In practice it will be very difficult to realise because it will be genuinely difficult to achieve proper planning and development in the aftermath of the bursting...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: .... More and more hotels were built, driven by the tax breaks, to the extent where there is now a very significant surplus of hotel rooms. There is almost a proposal in Dr. Bacon's report of a NAMA-style process for hotels. Deputy Mulcahy should note that NAMA for hotels and accelerated tax breaks for hotels stands in marked contrast to the experience of homeowners facing repossession, who...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...about these amendments. It is a disgrace and in total contravention of the requirements of democracy. Some of the amendments relate to the valuation board, which will be responsible for valuing NAMA's assets. It will have a hugely important role in determining how NAMA performs and behaves. Some of the amendments are so confused, particularly the ones dealing with people employed or...

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: From the Seanad (12 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister outline the implications of these provisions for individuals or institutions subject to the NAMA process in regard to items or assets that are offshore? I raised this issue in the course of the debate and have not yet received a clear response. If I understand the Minister correctly, these provisions are intended to cater for a variety of situations, both onshore and...

Order of Business (11 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...are not covered by the scheme, which is voluntary, such as most of the sub-prime firms which are those who are currently taking hundreds of people to court. They are not waiting until after the NAMA Bill is passed, rather they are doing it now and are charging people vast penalties and legal fees in the way they are approaching repossessions. Every Deputy in this House knows that. We...

Order of Business (11 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...series of different laws are proposed in regard to financial regulation, including the new legislation governing the reunification of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator, as well as the NAMA Bill which will come back before the Dáil tomorrow. Is it possible to simply put an amendment in the Bill------

National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Nov 2009)

Joan Burton: ...am well aware that Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks have stated continuously that they are not eager to rush to repossess houses. This is correct but we do not know what will happen once the NAMA legislation is implemented. The banks may find it necessary to change their policy. We do not know the breakdown in respect of house mortgages held by Anglo Irish Bank and Irish...