Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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182. To ask the Minister for Finance if some banks may have mislead the National Asset Management Agency about the value of assets transferred to it through the exclusion of expected losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3571/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised that the loan valuation process which was adopted to conform with the provisions of Part 5 of the NAMA Act was very thorough and required the provision of extensive supporting documentation from the participating institutions. As the Deputy may be aware, valuations were not set by NAMA or by the institutions. Property valuations were set by independent valuers, reviewed by NAMA-appointed valuers and, in cases of dispute, new valuations were provided by third-party valuers. Likewise, any legal due diligence carried out on behalf of the institutions was subject to review by NAMA-appointed solicitors. Finally, loan valuations were carried out by five independent firms and their work was also reviewed by an Audit Co-ordinator appointed by NAMA.   Given the numerous independent checks and balances in the process, I am advised that it would have been extremely difficult to manipulate the actual value of assets.