John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Finance if reports in a newspaper (details supplied) to the effect that the National Asset Management Agency is making or allowing payments of up to €200,000 to certain former and present developers are true; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42877/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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NAMA has a commercial remit to manage its portfolio of over €70 billion and it has to consider, on a case-by-case basis, the overhead costs associated with leaving a debtor in place to manage his business at an agreed salary level versus the commercial alternative of appointing an insolvency expert.

NAMA has advised that it is currently reviewing business plans for the largest 30 debtors whose loans it has acquired. Part of that process involves addressing the unsustainable and unrealistic level of debtor overheads which had been permitted by the participating institutions. As part of the debtor business plan process, NAMA has typically required debtors to reduce their business overheads by between 50% and 75%.

These reduced overheads have to cover a broad array of expenses, including salaries for relevant executives. NAMA does not specify the salary of any individual but the level of business overheads permitted by NAMA will reflect the business activity of each debtor and the requisite added value that a debtor can add in terms of achieving the financial and other targets set by NAMA.