Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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313. To ask the Minister for Finance if a bank (details supplied) has plans to sell a loan portfolio; the details of this portfolio; the timeframe for its sale; the details of other loan portfolio sales planned by the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28357/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Significant progress has been made across the Irish banking sector in reducing the level of NPLs since the financial crisis. This has been primarily achieved by customers engaging directly with their banks and agreeing a sustainable payment plan which allows the customer an achievable path out of arrears, as well as protecting the value of the loan for the bank. In the vast majority of cases this achieves the best outcome for all involved.

Despite this progress, the level of NPLs in the Irish banking sector remains well above the European average. Hence the Single Supervisory Mechanism, as regulator for larger European banks, has tasked the management and board of each institution with developing and implementing a strategy to address this challenge. In recent years Irish banks have introduced multiple engagement channels to facilitate those customers who are reluctant to engage directly with them. Having exhausted these initiatives, if meaningful engagement is not forthcoming from particular customers the bank may be left with no option but to look at alternative solutions which could, as a last resort, include the sale of the loan.

AIB has informed me that it has reduced its impaired loans to c. €8.6bn from a peak of c.€29bn over the past three years. The bank remains focused on reducing impaired loans to a level more in line with normalised European peer levels and will continue to implement sustainable solutions for customers who engage with the bank where feasible. AIB further informed me that the bank continues to review all options in relation to reducing impaired loans.

As the Deputy will be aware, as Minister for Finance I have no role in the day-to-day operations of any of the banks in which the State has a shareholding. The banks operate on an independent and commercial basis and therefore any decisions related to disposals or acquisitions of assets is a matter for the Board and management of each institution, under the terms set out in the relevant Relationship Frameworks.