Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of the up to date estimates of payments of fees to consultants, advisers and other professionals to the National Assets Management Agency over the life of the body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20584/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by NAMA that the contractual details of all contracts between the agency and individual service providers are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, are commercially sensitive and are confidential. I am advised by NAMA that legal and consultancy fees incurred in 2009 in setting up NAMA were €1.63m and relate to legal and consultancy expenses associated with the establishment of NAMA.

The aggregate costs for the year 2010 and the first quarter of 2011 is set out in the following table:

Fees and expenses incurred by NAMA are recovered through the operating activities of the agency. They are published in the quarterly reports of NAMA, which are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published on the NAMA website.

The financial advisor and consultancy fees incurred in 2010 include fees paid for accounting, financial and business process advice over the period from the incorporation of NAMA to the end of 2010. NAMA employed staff seconded from external consultancy firms and financial advisers to assist in the initial set-up of business units and the development and implementation of processes and policies, until NAMA officers were recruited by the NTMA.

The portfolio management fees incurred in 2010 relate to the review of debtor business plans.

The legal and tax costs incurred in 2010 relate to fees paid to professional service firms in respect of legal and tax advice and the secondment of staff for legal due diligence.

It is expected that the level of professional and consultancy costs in future will not be as significant as the costs incurred during 2010 given that the latter included costs associated with the establishment of NAMA, particularly relating to the secondment of staff prior to the recruitment of NAMA's own staff.

In addition to the above figures, NAMA incurs due diligence costs as part of the process of acquiring loans and related derivatives from the participating institutions. These costs include legal, valuation and property due diligence fees together with the fees of the audit co-ordinator. NAMA incurred due diligence costs of €29.6 million in 2010 and €9.0 million for the first quarter of 2011. NAMA had, however, factored these costs into the acquisition price of the assets and these were recovered from the participating institutions in the form of a reduced payment for the assets.