Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

This Government intends introducing a new mechanism soon to be established by the Property Services Regulatory Authority. NAMA supports the new mechanism, which will see the publication of all residential sales prices in the country and has suggested that the extension of this to commercial property would be equally welcome.

NAMA recently announced its intention to provide €2 billion in project investment in Ireland up to 2016. Some of this work will be carried out through public private partnerships, PPPs, and other joint venture type arrangements. Willing partners will be low on the ground if this type of legislation, proposed by Senator Daly, is imposed on NAMA. This investment will be in both residential and commercial projects in the Republic of Ireland, which represents a significant boost for Ireland's construction sector and a substantial jobs dividend in the wider economy. Certain projects are in the public domain, including funding for the completion of the Charlestown shopping centre in Finglas, the next phase of a residential development on the grounds of the former Dún Laoghaire golf course, the proposed completion of Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford and the completion of a substantial shopping centre complex in Portlaoise, County Laois. All such projects are subject to full cost-benefit appraisal and NAMA only invests where there is a demonstrable return on that investment which outweighs the additional exposure being undertaken.

NAMA will not be repeating the bad practices sponsored by the Senator's party which resulted in the disastrous overheating and ultimate destruction of our property markets. In addition, NAMA has also indicated that it will make up to €2 billion in vendor financing, loans of up to 75% loan to value, available to prospective purchasers of commercial property in Ireland. Already, the availability of vendor financing, at a time when traditional lenders to the sector globally are retrenching, has brought both renewed interest and significant price tension to commercial property sales under NAMA in Ireland. A good example is the recent sale of No. 1 Warrington Place, Dublin 2, to a private US investor, Northwood, which was making only its second ever investment in Europe, its first being in Paris. In a press release to announce the purchase, Northwood indicated its intention to work again in future with NAMA.

The National Asset Management Agency recently launched its 80:20 deferred payment initiative on a pilot basis in counties Meath, Dublin and Cork. Within the first month of this scheme, a large proportion of the available 115 houses have sale agreed. The initiative, which provides buyers with significant protection against future falls in the price of their new homes, will be rolled out more generally across the NAMA portfolio. NAMA has, to date, approved more than €8 billion worth of asset disposals and it has done so without fire selling or hoarding. It is firmly on track to meet the target of paying down 25% of its debt by end-2013 and it is funding debt repayment, development capital, vendor financing and its own operations out of its own cash reserves. It will not be turning to the taxpayer for additional moneys.

NAMA and the Department of Health recently confirmed that they are in serious discussions on relocating the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street to buildings controlled by NAMA at Elm Park. NAMA has similarly engaged in strategic alliances with other Departments and other public bodies around marrying its commercial remit with the State's need for land and buildings to achieve key public policy objectives.