Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

Last week I asked for a debate on the effectiveness of the Irish aid programme. Last night, I and some other Senators attended a meeting at which the Namibian ambassador to the European Union was present. One of his first objectives in his speech was to compliment this country on its reputation for helping developing nations. After the recent vicious and mean-spirited cutbacks to the Irish aid programme, we need more than ever a debate on the effectiveness of Irish aid and how it enhances our reputation on the worldwide stage. I ask the Leader to organise such a debate.

I was glad to see more detail emerging yesterday on the national asset management agency, NAMA. If it operates correctly, it will have the potential to bring our banks out of the current crisis. However, I question the ability of the agency to negotiate significant discounts on the book value of the loans in the Irish banking system. It is quite clear that if the discounts are too high, there will be a need to recapitalise the banks and the problem will arise again in six months. Perhaps what will happen is that the amount for which the assets will be purchased will be very close to the book value of €90 billion.

Many of the interest payments on the loans will be met by the property owners or developers who hold the loans. I am not concerned about that today but I am concerned about what will occur if people default on their loans to NAMA. Reports in the paper state they will give up their properties. We need to ask whether the Government has decided when it should initiate default proceedings against developers. Will they have the same amount of leeway as is extended at present to homeowners, which is only 12 months or will exceptions be made for developers?

When the Government is selling properties associated with defaulted loans, will any developer be able to bid for them? Will there be a blacklist of developers to prevent the bad ones from bidding? Will loans issued to developers to buy properties connected to defaulted loans be issued by NAMA or by banks? We need answers to these questions. As other Senators stated, there are serious implications for our national debt and interest payments. We need clarification. I ask the Leader to arrange a separate debate purely on NAMA as soon as possible.