Nama stalling over loan queries, says TD

NAMA CHIEF executive Brendan McDonagh has been accused of stonewalling the Dáil public accounts committee over the amount of interest paid on loans.

Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming said members of the committee were not satisfied with the explanation given by Mr McDonagh when he appeared before the committee in October as to the figure of €448 million in interest that was booked in the Nama accounts as interest paid in 2010.

Mr Fleming said committee members were trying to get to the bottom of what interest was being paid on what loans, and also whether interest payments were being “rolled up” with the loans, a policy widely criticised when it was operated by the banks.

In response to a further letter from the committee, Mr McDonagh said Nama had received cash worth €734 million in 2010, of which €363 million was from the sale of property, and other loan cash receipts were €371 million.

He further stated €448 million of this was interest repayments and €268 million covered the repayments of loans and proceeds from the sale or property.

Mr Fleming said a further letter had been sent a fortnight ago seeking clarification. “We are asking how much did you actually receive in relation to the various interest charges on the developers and he has not answered that.”

Mr Fleming said if Mr McDonagh did not satisfactorily answer the question next time, he will be heading for a “showdown with the PAC”, to which Nama is accountable under legislation.

The Fianna Fáil TD, who is also party spokesman on public expenditure and reform, said it was “obscene” that Nama was considering paying “commission” to developers who recouped more than the values of the loans that the agency had paid for.

He was referring to a proposal that “incentivisation arrangements” could be made for developers who repay all of Nama’s loan acquisition costs plus 10 per cent.

In response, Nama said yesterday Mr McDonagh had responded fully to all requests for information from the committee.