Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Finance if he plans to create a platform for the servicing and wind down of impaired assets; the work that has been carried out on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2917/11]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme of Financial Support for Ireland provides for financial sector reforms. As part of the agreement with the EC, IMF and EU, the State has agreed to adopt deleveraging measures and to implement restructuring of the banking sector. To this end, a Prudential Liquidity Assessment Review or "PLAR" will establish target funding ratios for each of the banks, identify non core assets and set an adjustment path to these targets based on specified non public annual benchmarks.

The Central Bank's Prudential Capital Assessment Review or PCAR exercise, which was an important part of the technical discussions underpinning the negotiated package of assistance with the IMF and our European partners, will be enhanced to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the underlying assets of the banks. The completion of the Central Bank's PCAR/PLAR exercise will be a key step in the restructuring of our banks. The further deleveraging of the banks is to be achieved in part by transferring from AIB and Bank of Ireland to NAMA land and development loans which had been previously excluded from transfer by virtue of their being below a value threshold of €20m. The Programme requires that "[t]he NAMA legislation will be amended to underpin the valuation and acquisition of these assets on a portfolio basis" and that NAMA will apply different discounts to categories of loans "based on NAMA's loan valuation experience up to the point of valuation". I will be introducing proposals to amend the legislation in near future to allow for the transfer of these pooled categorised eligible assets.

The analysis of all the options that could be used in a restructuring exercise is still ongoing. Proposals arising from such an analysis would have to be considered by Government of course before they could be adopted.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding the sale of EBS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2919/11]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Two bids for EBS are currently being considered: one from Irish Life & Permanent and the other from an international consortium led by Cardinal Capital Group. The deadline for receipt of the bids from each party was 17 January 2011 and each party submitted their respective bids by the required deadline. Each bid is now being evaluated with a view to deciding the best strategy for taking the process forward. It would not be proper for me to comment further at this stage until the formal evaluation has been concluded.