NAMA will have its work cut out to avoid the media pouncing on its selection of professional advisors, following this week’s disclosure that one of the solicitors chosen for its advisory panel has property debts of around €800 millon.

Brian O’Donnell, a former manager partner of William Fry, and well known in property circles was one 64 firms appointed by Nama to its panel of potential legal advisors. Another member of the legal panel was recently named in an RTÉ programme as having assisted developer Gerry Gannon in putting properties in his wife’s name, presumably to keep them out of Nama’s reach.

Nama was quick to point out this week that it hadn’t used the services of Mr O’Donnell’s firm, Brian O’Donnell Partners. However, the bad bank will find it difficult enough to engage lawyers with property expertise who haven’t either dabbled in property themselves or advised some of the top line developers now in deep trouble. It was always going to be a problem for the agency to find professionals not associated witih the property game to help clear up the mess of the collapse. It’s a small town and most people with money tried to cash in on the property boom.

But clearly Nama needs to have a better screening process in place so that any professional with heavy property borrowings should not qualify to advise Nama. There is also considerable unease about Nama paying salaries to property developers for their so-called cooperation, not to mention the outrage of tax payers at having to bail out builders who have been living beyond their means. There is little evidence of a lifestyle change for many of the property set.