Draft laws for toxic assets agency to be published
Draft laws setting up the country’s controversial new toxic assets agency will be published in the next 10 days, the Government said today.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said opposition politicians and the public will be able to study the proposals before a final version is debated in the Oireachtas in the autumn.
The agency was unveiled in the April mini-budget to kick-start lending by banks hit by defaulting loan books and by buying the assets and selling them on to raise cash.
Mr Lenihan said: “It is my intention in a matter of a week to 10 days to publish legislation, which will be final legislation, but which is legislation in draft form dealing with the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).
“I think it’s important that by the end of this month, or a very early date in August, the definitive proposals will be published.
“I’m not initiating it as a Bill in the Houses of the Oireachtas because I believe it is important that all the political parties and interested individuals be given an opportunity to comment on the draft before I finalise a published draft institute in the Oireachtas in early September.”
Mr Lenihan said he wanted to give time for public consultation to avoid any legal pitfalls the new agency might face, claiming he was concerned the body could get tied up in court battles.
“I certainly don’t want to see Nama becoming a happy hunting ground for lawyers and I’ve seen some commentary to the effect that there’s too much delay now in bringing Nama into operation,” the minister said.
“Given the scale of the operation ... it is essential that we guard against every possible legal pitfall.”
Mr Lenihan was launching the National Treasury Management Agency’s (NTMA) annual reports, which revealed Ireland’s national debt has soared from €37.6bn at the end of 2007 to €50.4bn by the close of last year.
The report also showed that by 2013 almost a fifth of the State’s tax take will go towards paying off interest on the debt.
“That is a high level and it is clearly not sustainable over the medium term,” Mr Lenihan said.
The NTMA says Ireland’s national debt is forecast to rise to 73% of economic output by 2013.
In 1990, when the NTMA was established, the national debt was just under 100% of GDP – several years after the last recession.
The National Pensions Reserve Fund plummeted in value last year by almost a third to €16.1bn, but Mr Lenihan said the losses do not have to be recouped until 2025.
However, NTMA chief executive Michael Somers said the perception of Ireland in the international markets was improving.
He claimed it was in part due to having a cash reserve of €25bn instantly available.
“There’s been a huge positive change in attitude towards us,” he said.
