Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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91. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will commission an independent value-for-money review of NAMA's sales processes to date and, pending its report, direct that all NAMA sales be suspended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16433/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I do not propose to commission the review suggested by the Deputy.  NAMA is already subject to a substantial level of scrutiny from the Oireachtas and to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, including the C&AG's Section 226 review which I understand is currently underway.

Nor do I propose to take any action with regard to NAMA's future sales activity.  As I pointed out during the debate on the PAC report into Project Eagle last week, there is a clear legal separation between the Minister for Finance and NAMA's commercial operations.  I do not have the power to intervene in those operations.  Section 9 of the NAMA Act provides that NAMA is independent in the performance of its functions.  The NAMA legislation was deliberately crafted by the Oireachtas to ensure that NAMA could carry out its work without undue political interference and I, and indeed my predecessor, have always respected the intentions of the Oireachtas in that respect.

Clearly, from the outset, the Oireachtas took the view that political interference in NAMA's independent commercial activities was highly undesirable as such interference would compromise its ability to obtain the best achievable return for the State. NAMA was established to carry out a commercial mandate and it recruited the expertise that it needed to conduct its business in a professional manner.

The decision of the Oireachtas in 2009 to allow NAMA to carry out its functions in an independent manner has been vindicated by its strong performance since inception. It has made major progress in eliminating Irish taxpayers' contingent liability of €30 billion which arose from the senior debt issued in order to acquire bank loan portfolios. As of today, 95% of that senior debt has been redeemed and NAMA has indicated that it expects that all of it to be redeemed by the end of 2017.  NAMA also expects to redeem its subordinated debt by March 2020 and to produce a surplus currently estimated at €2.3 billion by the time it completes its work.

NAMA has also made a major contribution in driving the development of commercial and residential accommodation in the Dublin Docklands SDZ. This will attract foreign direct investment into Ireland and will create a substantial number of jobs.

NAMA has made a significant contribution to social and economic development in other respects also and in particular in the area of social housing where it has worked closely with its debtors and receivers, with the Housing Agency, with local authorities and with Approved Housing Bodies to maximise the delivery of social housing. It also established NARPs as an innovative model to expedite social housing delivery. NARPS has significantly reduced the up-front capital costs for local authorities in the delivery to date of over 2,370 residential units for social housing.

NAMA also played a key role in the resolution of unfinished housing estates within the State. In 2010 NAMA had exposure to 332 unfinished housing estates. That has now reduced to 11 unfinished estates at this stage and they are expected to be resolved by end-2017.

I would also point out that NAMA is seeking to facilitate and fund the delivery of 20,000 homes over the period from 2016 to 2020, subject to commercial viability. Since 2014, NAMA funding has facilitated the delivery of 4,700 units by its debtors and receivers.

I have stated consistently that I support the work of NAMA and I have full confidence that the Board and management of NAMA are achieving their commercial mandate in accordance with the NAMA Act.