Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 together.

The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) advises that it does not pay salaries to debtors as it is not their employer. The Agency advises that, in certain cases, it permits debtors to retain part of the income from their income-producing assets to pay overheads where necessary for the preservation and enhancement of the value of property securing its loans. These costs may include an allowance for the remuneration of debtors and the staff employed by the debtor to manage the assets when the Agency decides that this offers the best and most cost effective option for the taxpayer.

The Agency advises that the decision as to whether to work with a debtor, and whether to approve the retention of overheads to include an allowance for the remuneration of a debtor, is determined on an individual case basis by its assessment of how it can best optimise debt recovery. A number of factors are taken into account in this regard, including a debtor’s level of co-operation with the Agency and, where applicable, the voluntary reversal of asset transfers and pledging of unencumbered assets.

The Agency advises that it does not permit an allowance for the remuneration of a debtor in circumstances where that debtor’s business plan is unacceptable or the debtor is not co-operating, including in circumstances where a debtor refuses to grant charges over unencumbered assets and/or to reverse asset transfers to relatives and others. As previously advised, the Agency is also currently pursuing a number of cases in the Courts to effect the reversal of asset transfers by debtors that appear to have been designed to put the assets beyond its reach.

The Agency similarly advises that, as the legal pursuit of personal guarantees generally occurs in the context of enforcement, the retention of overhead costs by a debtor does not arise. As advised to the House recently, to date the Agency has secured charges over unencumbered assets controlled by its debtors with a total value of €514 million. This amount includes arrangements with certain debtors that the transfer of assets to connected parties be reversed.