Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator is incorrect in his conceptualisation of the position. I do not know whether any of the properties we are discussing are in NAMA, but the point is that it matters little either way. If one of the centres is in NAMA, all it means is that the company or individual who owns the property and is running the centre borrowed money from a bank at some time in the past which went towards the acquisition of the property and that the bank has subsequently, for whatever reason, transferred that loan to NAMA. The latter now holds the loan the property is secured against and the property owner is making the loan repayments to NAMA rather than the bank. If NAMA is recouping those loan repayments, it is doing so for the benefit of every taxpayer in the State in respect of the moneys that were put into the banking system to ensure those institutions remained solvent and functional.

In other words, the circularity to which the Senator referred is not in operation here. NAMA does not own the properties under its remit; it merely has each property secured against the loan the agency is seeking to have repaid. If any of the direct provision centres are under the remit of NAMA - as I said, I do not know whether this is the case - then in circumstances where the company that owns the property stopped repaying the loan, NAMA would then seek to repossess and thereafter possibly sell it. Any such property would cease to be a direct provision centre and one could not expect NAMA simply to present it to my Department. After all, the people of this country are paying a very high price to keep our banks financially viable. If money can be recouped that will eventually reduce the pressures taxpayers are facing, it is in everybody's interest that NAMA should seek to recoup it.

The manner in which the Senator conceptualises is just unfortunately incorrect. If he was correct, I might celebrate because it might be mean we could this at a lower cost but, unfortunately, he is not.