Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

That is short-sighted. The Government should have gone ahead with a proposal like this because it would bring people on board. Overcoming the time delay and logistics issues would be straightforward if the Government had the will. The most appropriate investors and those of highest repute are our citizens. International and domestic media perception would be positive if it looked like the people of Ireland were buying into the Government's proposal to establish an SPV to run NAMA.

Rather than dismissing our proposal so dispassionately, perhaps the Minister for Finance should have taken it on board and made it work. The citizens would be the best people to involve. Other vehicles to manage the €51 billion could easily have been established. The amount could have been taken out of the Government's funds and, as the units were sold off to our citizens, the exposure would have lessened. If all the units were not taken up, inviting international and other investors to take up the remainder would have been easy. Encouraging people to buy into NAMA in this way could have been easy, but it is regrettable that, according to the Minister, such an opportunity will be missed.