Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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135. To ask the Minister for Finance the spending commitments or paying down of debt the Government has entered into with regard to the profits arising from the winding down of NAMA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54137/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware NAMA has now redeemed 100% of its guaranteed senior debt and expects to redeem its subordinated debt on its first call date in March 2020. NAMA will focus on completing its ongoing deleveraging, its Dublin Docklands SDZ and residential funding programmes in the interim period to 2020. It is through the successful completion of these objectives that NAMA currently projects a surplus in the region of €3bn to be returned to the State once it completes it work.

As per section 60(2) of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA may use surplus funds to redeem and cancel its senior and subordinated debt. Surplus funds may only be returned to the Central Fund once NAMA's debt has been redeemed in full.

Any NAMA surplus paid, while Exchequer positive, will not impact the general government balance, in line with Eurostat rules. It will be a decision for the Government as to how any surplus returned by NAMA will be utilised within the framework of the fiscal rules.

It has always been the Government's intention to use such receipts from the resolution of the financial sector crisis to pay down our debt and help reduce our debt servicing costs. Given the uncertainty around the specific timing of or the amount that will be realised, such receipts have not been included our debt forecasts. Debt reduction underpinned by our national debt long term target of 45 per cent of GDP, will increase the resilience of the public finances to deal with any potential shocks which may emerge.