'Serious flaws' in Nama plan, says FG

SEANAD REPORT:EUGENE REGAN (FG) said he would rely on the European Commission to see through the charade and fiction of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama)following the passage of the Bill to establish Nama later this week.

Mr Regan said that even at this point in the consideration of the Bill legislators were none the wiser. There was no more clarity on valuation or on the burden sharing which was a requirement under EU guidelines on this matter. The programme outlined in the business plan was not in accordance with such guidelines.

“The commission will find serious flaws in the detail of this plan I was also shocked at the Minister’s forecast of a profit. He said he had told us it was going to break even but deciding that it was better to be positive he put in a projected profit.”

Joe O’Toole (Ind) said: “That is not actually what he said.” Mr Regan replied: “The figures were selected to suit the conclusions. That is rather shocking.” He disagreed with Mr O’Toole on the possible implications of the one-year extension given to us by the commission to get our structural deficit in order.

Mr O’Toole said it seemed to him that the Government could now easily look at a three-tier approach to taxation and also at a four-year time span for corrective action, always recognising that the €4 billion reduction had to be delivered in the coming year, so that there was a front-loading in terms of pain. While the taxation system would still not bring in the amount of money they were looking for, at least the Government knew that “all of the partners” were now agreed that €5 billion had to be delivered. “ It seems to me that we are now looking at solutions. The Taoiseach should lock the negotiators into a room and tell them that he would let them out when they came up with a banker’s order for €5 billion signed by all of them in a way that would make everybody happy”

Paschal Donohoe (FG) said he was not party to the social partnership discussions. He wanted Mr Lenihan to make the decision in relation to the level of tax he paid, not Jack O’Connor. For too long we had confused the role of partnership with that of government.

Dan Boyle (GP), deputy Seanad leader said he was confident that there would be additional taxation measures in the budget. He did not go along with the notion conveyed by some of the media, that high income earners would leave the country if they were taxed too heavily.

Unless they addressed the issue of how so many people in top areas had been corrupt, they would not prevent social unrest, Fidelma Healy-Eames (FG) said. “The people are getting increasingly angry . . . Is it any wonder that Pat Kenny was attacked on his own show. He is a public servant.”

Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan said it was not fair to make a sweeping statement about everyone at the top being corrupt.

David Norris (Ind) said: “Pat Kenny did not like it, but it is the kind of stuff that is dished out to us all the time. We take it; we are so supine.”

On the need to get the banks to lend to small businesses, Ivana Bacik exhorted the Minister to adopt the French approach to naming and shaming financial institutions which did not lend to viable businesses. Brian Lenihan said an examination was being made of the implications of the French model for our institutions.