Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Minister for Finance the remaining assets the National Asset Management Agency has to dispose of, when it will conclude its mandate; the general strategy it will employ in its wind-down process; the expected overall outcome of its work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40353/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The carrying value of NAMA loans and receivables as at 30^thJune 2015 was €11.275 billion.  This comprises gross loans and receivables of €14.7 billion and loan impairments of €3.47 billion.  Further analysis on this is available in Note 14, p. 29, of NAMA's Quarterly Report and Accounts for the period to end June 2015.  These accounts are available on the NAMA website, .

I would also draw the Deputy's attention to NAMA's Annual Statement for 2016.  Under Section 53 of the NAMA Act, NAMA is required to submit a statement which sets out NAMA's proposed financial objectives for the coming year; the nature and scope of its proposed activities; its proposed policies and objectives; and proposed application of resources.  This statement was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in late October and is also available on NAMA's website.

As previously advised, NAMA is aiming to redeem a cumulative 80% (€24 billion) of its Senior Bonds by the end of 2016 and it hopes that it will have redeemed all of its Senior Bonds by the end of 2018.  NAMA also aims to redeem its Subordinated Bonds (€1.593 billion) in 2020.  These targets are predicated on conditions in the Irish market remaining favourable and on NAMA being in a position to retain specialist staff to enable it to generate the optimal financial return from the realisation of its residual portfolio.

NAMA has, to date, redeemed €22.1 billion of Senior Bonds, 73% of the €30.2 billion of Senior Bonds originally issued in 2010 and 2011 to acquire bank loans.  Reflecting NAMA's continued progress it has redeemed €5.5 billion of Senior Bonds this year.  NAMA has made major progress in reducing the State's contingent liability through the accelerated redemption of its Government guaranteed Senior Bonds.  Since its inception, NAMA has reduced this contingent liability from €30.2 billion at its peak (over 18% of GDP) to €8.1 billion (4% of GDP) today.  The NAMA Chief Executive has said that NAMA remains confident that this senior debt contingent liability will be eliminated in full by 2018, two years ahead of NAMA's original strategic plan.

NAMA is ahead of schedule because of its ability to take advantage of favourable Irish market conditions since the end of 2013 to increase the flow of assets to the market.  In addition to ensuring, in accordance with Section 10 of the NAMA Act, that NAMA obtains the best achievable return for the State on its acquired bank assets, such deleveraging creates wider collateral benefits for Ireland.  NAMA's actual and planned accelerated disposal programme has been a material factor in the decision of the credit rating agencies to upgrade credit ratings for Ireland.

NAMA will continue to take advantage of current favourable market conditions to the greatest extent possible.

In addition, NAMA is committed to providing substantial funding on a commercial basis to its debtors and receivers to maximise the return that NAMA can generate on behalf of taxpayers from development assets within its portfolio.  The NAMA Board has undertaken to facilitate the timely and coherent delivery of key Grade A office, retail and residential space within the Dublin Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and to facilitate increased residential delivery in the greater Dublin area and other locations where residential development may be commercially viable.  The Deputy will be aware, in this respect, of the recent announcement by the NAMA Board that a residential delivery target by 20,000 units on a commercial basis by end-2020 is potentially achievable through NAMA funding. This is in addition to the 2,000 units delivered through NAMA funding to date.

NAMA is satisfied, based on current market conditions, that these commercial and residential delivery programmes can be funded without compromising its debt redemption targets and without impacting upon its upper-end projected terminal surplus of €1.75 billion. 

It is too early to speculate as to what date in the future NAMA will have made sufficient progress on its objectives, including its SDZ and residential delivery funding programmes, as to warrant consideration of its dissolution. As outlined above, the timeline for full bond redemptions are not expected to be affected by these programmes.