Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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58. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider suspending the work of NAMA immediately pending the final report of the Cooke commission of investigation into Project Eagle; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17800/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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On 13 June 2017 the Government agreed the order establishing the NAMA Commission of Investigation and selected Justice John Cooke to lead the Commission in investigating the NAMA’s disposal of its Northern Ireland loan portfolio, referred to as “Project Eagle”. The Commission of Investigation is under the remit of the Department of Taoiseach and the former Minister for Finance and Department of Finance Officials are the subject of one of the terms of reference. Therefore, it is not appropriate for me to comment extensively. The Commission's terms of reference and interim report are available on the Merrion Street website. Neither call for a suspension of NAMA's activities. The Commission's final report is scheduled to be published by the end June 2019.

It is important to note that in no way has the integrity of NAMA or the NAMA Board or the integrity of its decisions been brought into question in relation to the disposal of Project Eagle. I therefore have no intention of directing NAMA to halt its activities. To do so would irreparably damage NAMA's positive contribution to our recovery and damage our reputation as a credible, open and transparent market. By extension, any such interference would be detrimental to the interests of Irish taxpayers.

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. In October 2017 it eliminated the Irish taxpayers' contingent liability of €30 billion which arose from the senior debt issued in order to acquire bank loan portfolios.  NAMA also expects to redeem its subordinated debt by March 2020 and to produce a surplus – currently estimated at €3.5 billion – by the time it completes its work subject to continued positive market performance.

Halting NAMA’s activities would put these achievements at risk. It would entail the State taking direct control of NAMA and bring NAMA onto the State’s balance sheet. Such action also would raise serious competition concerns limiting the State’s flexibility in recovering value from NAMA’s remaining assets.  Such action would also create significant challenges for NAMA in retaining staff and preserving a viable platform to maximise the return from its remaining assets.