cbpa.ie

The scale of action by banks against property syndicate members and smaller property players has been revealed with €6bn worth of loans foreclosed on in the last year.

It comes as NAMA finalises the value of its portfolio for 2011, with an impairment charge of up to €1bn possible.

Last year NAMA wrote down the value of its assets by €1.4bn, but it will not be as large this year.

Banks working under the supervision of NAMA have foreclosed on a total of 1,043 loans taken out by investors and landlords.

The loans are nominally worth €6bn, but NAMA values them at €1.6bn. NAMA itself has taken action against bigger developers, involving 196 loans.

A quarterly report by NAMA shows that among its portfolio only 23pc of loans are performing — that is paying their interest. The vast majority of the loans are either 120 days in arrears or have been foreclosed on — which usually means the companies behind them have been put into receivership.

While NAMA tends to take action against larger developers, AIB, Bank of Ireland and IBRC work under the supervision of the agency and take action either through the courts or via a voluntary insolvency process.

NAMA is now going through the business plans of its borrowers and many non-performing loans will be changed — including lower interest and longer repayment terms — turning them into performing loans. Also revealed in the report was:

- NAMA is now working with less borrowers, but with more loans after additional loans held by some developers were disclosed.

- The group of private investors who operate the NAMA structure on behalf of the State were paid €5m in fees during the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

- Up to the end of June, NAMA had generated €828m net cash from its operating activities, primarily due to cash from borrowers.

- Profit during the second quarter was €118m. Cumulative profit for the first six months of 2011 was €209m.

Since October, NAMA has completed the acquisition of the last remaining loans.

Loans worth €74.2bn have been acquired since the first tranche of loan transfers in March 2010. NAMA paid €31.7bn for the loans.

NAMA has reviewed 170 business plans of the 188 debtors whose loans are directly managed by it.

- Emmet Oliver, Deputy Business Editor

source: independent.ie

As rents start to rise, it’s time to look at creating a long-term rental market that would offer security to tenants and stable returns to landlords says LORCAN SIRR , who explains why he prefers to keep renting

THE rental market in Ireland is not a serious, long-term attraction for many people – and it’s time that changed. Our obsession with home ownership, combined with a rental market that offers neither security to tenants nor stable returns to landlords, has given it secondary status when it comes to housing.

It need not be that way. And now that Government policy is, unsurprisingly, shifting away from subsidising house purchases, the time is right to make renting long-term a serious housing choice.

The concept that rent – compared to mortgage repayments – is “dead money” has been upended by the property crash. But it will be difficult to broaden the rental base away from young single people to families unless they know they will be able to stay in a home for as long as they need to, if they continue to pay the rent.

With security of tenure so tenuous, potential tenants are naturally cautious of the rental market.

There are currently at least three obstacles to transforming our rental market into something more attractive.

Firstly, our obsession with home ownership, which was reinforced by a lack of alternative options for many people, and driven by financial supports from the state. This may shift if Government alters policy – and legislation – wisely.

Secondly, there is the plethora of amateur landlords who see investing in property as a short-term game. Professionals see value in having tenants for decades, not until property values rise. Property is a long-term investment, not one of immediate wealth creation.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the Residential Tenancies Act of 2004 needs to be changed. If renting is to be made a long-term and viable option for society, then tenants need to know they have real security of tenure.

The notice periods – up to six months – which must be given by landlords to tenants are not unduly awful in the Act but the reasons by which a landlord can recover possession of a property need to be updated and made more impersonal.

Finally, the rental market needs to be made attractive to professional landlords, that is co-operatives, housing associations and investment companies who have no personal interest in the property but do have a professional interest in long-term tenancies, quality accommodation and good tenant relationships.

There is no reason why Dublin should not have a rental market like Antwerp or Berlin or almost any European city, but we need to level the playing field financially to support different types of accommodation, and the Residential Tenancies Act needs to afford much greater security of tenure to tenants.

We should make the rental market an attractive one for both occupiers and owners.

This means improving security of tenure for tenants, and creating the means to attract professional landlord companies and investors.

We could learn some lessons from the German example. Often thought of as “pro-tenant”, the German rental market is attractive to about 60 per cent of the population.

Being relatively pro-tenant has created a demand for accommodation, and many people regard their rented accommodation as their long-term home and, accordingly,treat it well. Many families rent for life.

Accommodation is invariably rented completely empty, frequently not even with lightbulbs. Each departing tenant paints the accommodation white, so that new tenants have a clean, empty space into which they can move. The quality of rental accommodation in Germany is generally good.

For landlords, the rental market has also consistently provided an excellent rate of return for investors – up to 8 per cent according to Deutsch Bank Research – precisely because renting is attractive to tenants.

This is even despite rents not being able to increase by more than 20 per cent over three years.

With cashflows relatively certain, the German rental market is also stable, attracting professional housing investors and housing companies.

Therefore, it’s not a question of deterring landlords from investing if regulations are too tough. If regulations offer an attractive package for tenants, then the rental base will expand, demand will increase and decent returns will be made.

Ultimately, domestic accommodation, rented or not, is somebody’s home, and not a commodity.

A professional rental market recognises this, and thrives because of it. We have a lot of catching up to do.

---

Dr Lorcan Sirr is a lecturer in the Department of Real Estate at Dublin Institute of Technology and editor of Dublin’s Future published by the Liffey Press

Renting: I get choice – and save money

I HAVE BEEN a “renter” in various countries ever since I left home. My experience has mostly been a very positive one. There is definitely more stigma attached to renting in Ireland than in other jurisdictions where it is seen as the norm.

Renting currently offers me two major advantages. Firstly, I can afford to rent in a part of Dublin in which I could not afford to buy. Hence, I live in a location of my choice, with good local facilities, and within an easy cycle of work. My commute is less than 20 minutes and I never have to pay to get to work.

Second, renting is currently making me money. Compared to the mortgage on a house I could afford to buy, my rent is around 40 per cent cheaper, meaning I can save the difference each month.

It also means I have a positive sum of money and not a house in negative equity with 25 years left on the mortgage.

Renting also affords me a degree of flexibility. If needs be, I can up sticks and move location or country.

Unfortunately, renting is not for everybody, although it should be. Our market and legislation is such that renting offers little security of tenure.

For example, why and how would families rent if they can’t be assured of being able to stay for long periods of time? I take this risk.

Others can’t, but security of tenure shouldn’t be a risk in a proper rental market.

source: irishtimes.com

HARD-PRESSED homeowners are in line for another three interest-rate cuts on top of the one delivered this month, it has emerged.

However, a billionaire investor in Bank of Ireland appeared to rule out variable-rate customers of that bank benefiting from a series of ECB rate cuts.

Analysts said they were expecting a eurozone rate cut in December, another in January and that a third in February or March was now highly likely.

This would take the ECB rate from 1.25pc at present to 0.5pc, economists at Danske Bank, which owns National Irish Bank, said yesterday.

Four cuts, including this month’s one, would reduce repayments on a €200,000 tracker mortgage by €120 a month.

Over a year, a family with this size of mortgage would be €1,440 better off.

Danske Bank said the ECB was likely to keep cutting rates in a bid to counteract disappointing growth in the eurozone and in an attempt to contain the sovereign-debt crisis.

A string of cuts in ECB rates is set to reignite the controversy over banks failing to cut variable rates.

A billionaire investor in Bank of Ireland, Wilbur Ross, has defended the bank’s decision to resist government attempts to persuade it to cut its variable mortgage rate.

Rebuffed

The vulture capitalist said a more “normalised” funding environment was needed for Bank of Ireland to pass on ECB interest rate cuts to customers on variable-rate mortgages.

Mr Ross, who owns 9pc of Bank of Ireland, told Reuters news agency that the lender’s high funding costs made it difficult to pass on the ECB rate cut.

Bank of Ireland boss Richie Boucher stormed out of a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore last week after being asked to pass on this month’s European Central Bank rate cut to variable-rate customers.

Mr Ross said: “I can assure you that Richie Boucher is well aware of the need for responsible pricing of loans and also is aware that lower rates make it easier for borrowers to remain current in their payments.

“High funding costs are hopefully a temporary phenomenon. In a more normalised environment, it would become easier to synchronise interest rate spreads with changes in rates charged by ECB.”

Ulster Bank has also rebuffed efforts by the Government to get it to pass on last week’s ECB cut to its variable rate customers. Its variable rate is 4.95pc, compared with Bank of Ireland’s 3.99pc.

The State owns 15pc of Bank of Ireland. It has no stake in Ulster Bank.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said yesterday that he had been told by Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield that he does not need additional powers to force banks to pass on ECB interest rate reductions to customers.

Mr Noonan last night ruled out introducing emergency legislation to force two banks to pass on interest rate cuts to struggling help the mortgage holders.

- Charlie Weston Personal Finance Editor

source: independent.ie

The GAA is poised to tap into the vast NAMA land banks to help it build a spate of new facilities.

The move is certain to spark other sporting organisations into action to cash in on the low price of land held all over the country by the country’s “toxic bank”.

Details of the GAA’s plans emerged last night in a key report which urged Dublin GAA to approach NAMA with a view to buying land for a new 25,000-seater stadium and two ‘centres of excellence’ on either side of the Liffey.

Other counties are bound to look closely at doing the same on the basis that they may never get as good a chance to acquire sites and facilities again.

Many clubs were badly burned after buying sites for stadiums during the Celtic Tiger years, only to run into trouble when property values crashed and repayments spiralled.

But NAMA’s vast land bank could provide a lifeline for many others who are struggling with existing facilities.

Experts last night said the GAA would not be the only organisation attempting to benefit from the low prices, with rugby and soccer clubs also anxious to get their hands on badly needed new facilities.

The Dublin plan was unveiled in Croke Park last night. It details a six-year strategy for Dublin GAA called ‘Unleashing The Blue Wave’.

It made no secret of the fact that the Dubs will be taking a look at NAMA’s books — which now control much of the vacant land around the capital as a result of taking on €70bn in debts from ravaged financial institutions and developers hit by the global downturn.

The report says there is an acute need for a mid-sized inter-county ground.

According to insiders, Dublin GAA officials will go looking for NAMA land around the M50 to start building a new stadium.

Only recently, the Leinster Council ditched plans to develop a new stadium in the north-east of the province or in the commuter belt.

But the Dublin County Board believes it can exploit the absence of a modern stadium by building a new one with a capacity somewhere between Parnell Park (around 10,000) and Croke Park (82,300).

Grounds in Kildare and Meath (St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge and Pairc Tailteann in Navan) have had their capacities downsized on health and safety grounds recently.

That means none of the Dublin satellite counties have suitable inter-county grounds for a mid-sized crowd.

There is now an acute shortage of appropriate facilities within the greater Dublin area.

Training

And that extends to a lack of a training academy and centres of excellence suitable to adequately cater for development squads of all age groups up to senior level.

The same applies to many other counties and that is why the lure of getting NAMA land to develop and expand will attract officials keen to explore every avenue.

Meanwhile, a row is brewing between the GAA and Leinster Rugby over the colour of the Leinster jersey.

Dublin is claiming that Leinster has effectively hijacked the GAA’s famous blue sporting brand.

The report says: “The Blue Jersey is a unique, inclusive brand, uniting Dublin’s dense expanse, blurring the difference in class and possession which became so pointedly manifest during the delusional days of the Celtic Tiger.”

source: independent.ie

NAMA HAS invited the promoters of a “vertical park” for the concrete skeleton on North Wall Quay in Dublin, once mooted as headquarters for Anglo Irish Bank, to submit a formal expression of interest for the site before Christmas.

Architect Paschal Mahoney, co-ordinator of the Trees for the Quays project, said the invitation was given to the group by two Nama’s property portfolio managers at a meeting last Thursday.

“We had written to Nama’s chairman, Frank Daly, and then had a meeting for well over an hour with Kevin Nowlan and Colm Lundy to outline the proposal,” he said. “We felt they were anxious to be helpful and we’re to get access to the site on Wednesday.”

The project would involve punching through the concrete floorplates of the skeletal structure to make room for trees and walkways while using the rubble to create an open amphitheatre alongside, with a neighbourhood park to the rear, along Sheriff Street. Mr Mahoney said they also met with accountants McStay Luby, who are acting as receivers for the site, which is owned by the debt-laden Zoe Developments group. They learned the firm had not yet appointed sales agents to market it for disposal.

“The prime creditor would appear to be Nama,” he said. “We’re trying to persuade the agency to look at the bigger picture, and what the Trees for the Quays project would do in terms of increasing the capital value of surrounding properties in the area.

“We were advised of the situation regarding the property being in receivership and the restrictions this imposes, that the receiver has a fiduciary duty to the debtors to do the best financially for them and that this represented significant barrier.

“We are of the view that Nama cannot value this site on a stand-alone basis, as this site is immediately surrounded by several other Nama- controlled sites – so the valuation of the entire grouping of sites is far more important than this single site,” he said.

Separately, two former Zoe directors – David Torpey and John Pope – have set up a new business, Property Asset Management Enhancement Services, to generate interest in completing the North Wall Quay shells.

The eight-storey skeletal block has become something of an an icon of Ireland’s banking collapse. Among those said to be interested in leasing it is US bank BNY Mellon, which is looking at five potential sites in Dublin to centralise its 1,750-strong Irish workforce.

Among those backing the Trees for the Quays project is Philip Cronin, managing director of Intel in Australia and New Zealand, who was among those attending the recent Global Irish Forum in Dublin Castle. Mr Cronin is understood to have lobbied members of the Government, including Taoiseach Enda Kenny, to support the proposal, saying he could see great potential for the technology sector becoming associated with such a “sustainable” project.

Following a “very positive” meeting recently with one Government minister whom he declined to name, Mr Mahoney said his group had written to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan seeking their support.

source: irishtimes.com

BANK OF Ireland yesterday maintained its position regarding not passing on last week’s ECB rate cut to mortgage customers, despite saying that it expects its net interest margin to stabilise in the second half of the year.

A spokeswoman for the bank said interest rates continue to be under review. In an interim management statement, Bank of Ireland reiterated its expectation that total impairment charges on mortgages have peaked.

However, it noted an increase in mortgage arrears in August and September which it attributed to speculation about a mortgage debt forgiveness scheme, echoing similar comments made by KBC Ireland on Thursday.

The bank noted “ongoing pressure on the group’s cost of funding”, due to intense competition for deposits in the Irish market, the elevated cost of wholesale funding, and the high cost of the Government guarantee.

However, these costs have been offset by a recovery in lending margins and the interest income benefits from lower subordinated debt and increased capital.

In the trading statement, the bank said it expected its net interest margin to stabilise in the second half of 2011 as a result of interest income benefits from lower subordinated debt and increased capital, although further margin recovery will face “some headwinds” as a result of the low interest rate environment.

British and Irish deposits at the bank rose to €67 billion at the end of October according to the trading update, from €65 billion at the end of June, a figure that had included a temporary deposit of €3 billion from the NTMA.

As a result, the bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio now stands at 153 per cent, compared to 164 per cent at the end of June, a trend that the bank expects will continue.

The improving loan-to-deposit ratio was also helped by loan sales, as the bank deleverages.

Last month, Bank of Ireland sold €5 billion of non-core loans at a discount of 9 per cent of their face value. This represents about half of all the loans the bank is required to sell by 2013.

The bank said yesterday it is at “an advanced stage of negotiation with potential purchasers on certain other non-core portfolios.”

The bank which is the only listed Irish bank to avoid State control plans to deleverage by disposing of or running down about €30 billion in assets.

The group is “strongly capitalised”, according to the interim management statement.

source: irishtimes.com

RAY Grehan has said that he and his brother Danny are not in a position to pay the €300m they each owe NAMA.

The brothers, who moved to the UK six months ago to start another business, will consider all options for the future. This could include filing for bankruptcy in Britain, he said.

The brothers, with addresses at Bateman’s Row, Shoreditch, London, and Prince’s Park Parade, Hayes, Middlesex, consented to the judgments being entered against them at the Commercial Court by Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday.

A barrister for the developers said that given the extremely large sums involved, they were anxious to take legal advice and had decided the “better course” was to consent to judgment despite having “genuine concerns” in relation to the sums sought.

Ray Grehan told the Irish Independent that the brothers were “disappointed” at the outcome.

He was also highly critical of NAMA, saying its actions against them were not in the taxpayers’ best interest.

“We will have to take it on the chin, pick ourselves up and carry on,” he said.

Now that the Grehans have agreed to the massive judgments against them, NAMA can pursue them to take their assets. The bad bank can seize valuable properties and assets they own.

If they declare bankruptcy in the UK, which is a shorter process than here, NAMA would have a fight on its hands to recover monies from them and would join the other creditors. It could also object to their bankruptcy application and to them being discharged from it after a year.

The brothers gave personal guarantees to lenders for loans taken out by their development company, Glenkerrin Homes, and for personal borrowings that amount to €49m which triggered this court action.

Order

NAMA did not comment on the case yesterday. Earlier this week it secured a court order to have Glenkerrin Homes and another company wound up.

The Grehans must provide a statement of the companies’ affairs to the High Court next month. Should they seek bankruptcy in the UK, NAMA will be amongst their creditors.

The brothers had built up a portfolio of properties in Ireland and the UK, including a new tower next to Canary Wharf. Their highest-profile deal in Ireland saw them pay €171m — a staggering €84m an acre — for the former Veterinary College in Ballsbridge in 2005.

For many years the Galway-born brothers’ Glenkerrin Homes was a major house builder in Ireland.

Mr Grehan said NAMA sold three of its UK properties recently for “€50m less” than it had agreed to sell them. This shows its “lack of expertise” in managing valuable properties for the benefit of taxpayers he said.

“This is a major issue for the Government,” Mr Grehan said.

The NAMA claim arose on foot of personal guarantees they gave to AIB for personal and company loans that include Mr Grehan’s personal borrowings of €27m and his brother’s €22m worth of personal loans.

The Grehans have been on a collision course with NAMA for many months. They initially signed a memorandum of understanding with the agency that would have allowed them to continue running the company with a view to paying off their debts in the longer term.

But tensions emerged when NAMA wanted to appoint former Bank of Scotland executive Harry Slowey as a non-executive chairman of their company and they objected.

NAMA subsequently moved to appoint a receiver to their companies which the Grehans challenged in court. NAMA ultimately won the day.

A barrister for the developers told the court that given the extremely large sums involved, they were anxious to take legal advice and had decided the “better course” was to consent to judgment.

The Grehans previously argued that AIB had loaned substantial monies on short-term facilities in the knowledge they could not be repaid in the short term. It was argued that AIB wanted to lend on short terms so as to avoid the due diligence required for more formal loans and the totality of the relationship with the bank should be examined.

- Siobhan Creaton and Aoife Finneran

source: independent.ie

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) has secured a court order for the winding up of two companies owned by brothers Ray and Danny Grehan, who are being pursued by the agency for some €260 million arising from their guarantees of loans made to their companies.

Mr Justice Roderick Murphy said yesterday he would grant orders for liquidation of Glenkerrin Properties Ltd and Glenroyal Leisure Ltd, which employ 75 people, amid concerns any delays might lead to a further haemorrhaging of assets.

Nama appointed receivers last May to Glenkerrin Properties, which operates bars, hotels and restaurants, and Glenroyal Leisure, operator of leisure and fitness centres, after the companies failed to make repayments to Nama. The Grehans initiated a challenge to the appointment of the receivers.

Ray and Danny Grehan, with addresses respectively at Bateman’s Row, Shoreditch, London, and Princes Park Parade, Hayes, Middlesex, had also opposed liquidation of the companies.

In an affidavit, Ray Grehan argued it was inappropriate for Nama to seek to wind up the companies. Liquidation would lead to the sale of the companies’ assets below value and there was “a lack of apparent concern for the future employment of the companies’ staff and the economic prospects of its trading partners”, he said.

It had been acknowledged by all parties the best means of achieving an advantageous sale of the Glenroyal Hotel and Leisure Centre was to maintain those businesses as a going concern, he added. The leisure centre has a membership of 3,600 people and turnover of €1.6 million per year.

Paul Gallagher SC, for Nama, argued the companies were “hopelessly insolvent” and it was in the interests of creditors that a liquidator be appointed. There was a suggestion that Nama, because it is owned by the taxpayer, should behave differently, counsel said. There was nothing in Nama’s actions to support the unfounded allegation it was not acting in the interest of the taxpayers but for some ulterior motive, he said.

Brian Higgins, whose company Lara Electrical is owed €46,107 for providing electrical goods and services, objected to the petition for liquidation. Mr Higgins said he was “a vulnerable creditor” and it was not in his interests for the companies to be wound up.

Mr Justice Murphy said he would appoint Declan Taite and Ann O’Dwyer as joint liquidators and also ordered the companies’ directors to file a statement of affairs within 21 days.

source: irishtimes.com

THE EBS has announced it is to reduce its standard variable rate by 0.25 of a percentage point in line with the reduction announced by the European Central Bank.

The move will mean the rate falls from 4.93 per cent to 4.68 per cent from the beginning of next month. Monthly repayments on a loan of €100,000 will fall by €14.

The ECB reduced its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 per cent last Thursday, in response to the deteriorating economic outlook for the euro zone.

The EBS joins Permanent TSB, KBC, Irish Nationwide (now part of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo) and Bank of Scotland in announcing their intention to cut variable rates in line with the move.

Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks have yet to indicate if they intend to follow suit.

Banks are obliged by contract to pass on rate cuts to tracker customers, but maintain discretion over standard variable rate loans.

Variable rate mortgages account for 30 per cent of the Irish market, which corresponds to 207,000 mortgages. Of the variable rate market, 50 per cent is held by the five lenders covered by the State’s bank guarantee: AIB, Bank of Ireland, EBS, Permanent TSB and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

Ulster Bank has already indicated it has no plans to change its rate despite the ECB move.

Meanwhile, Danske Bank-owned National Irish Bank has defended a decision to proceed with a move announced last month to increase its variable rates by up to 0.95 per cent.

Some reports suggested the bank was acting in defiance of the Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield who last week said he believed banks should pass on the ECB cuts to variable rate customers. However, NIB pointed out that it was its first increase since 2008 and added that its rates were not set according to the ECB’s position because it sources its funds through Denmark, which is not part of the euro zone.

“The changes were part of a broad restructuring of the bank’s interest rates on savings and lending products,” the company said. “They are the first changes we have made to our variable home loan rate since 2008 and are being made because the bank cannot continue to absorb the elevated cost of term funding. The changes in no way relate to any ECB interest rate fluctuations as the bank does not rely on the ECB for funding. We did not change our variable rate products when the ECB rate increased twice earlier this year.”

The Central Bank does not have the power to compel lenders to change rates but Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he would consider changing legislation if lenders failed to pass on rate reductions.

source: irishtimes.com

DEVELOPERS whose assets have been seized by Nama are being headhunted by international investment funds, looking to snap up properties in Ireland and UK at knockdown prices from the State’s so-called ‘bad bank’.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, one major developer claimed to be in talks with four different funds who are interested in employing him, with a view to exploit his knowledge of Nama’s British and Irish property portfolios.

The prospect of failed developers returning to managing assets acquired at rock-bottom prices by cash-rich international investors will raise fresh questions about how Nama operates.

Two weeks ago, Nama chief executive Brendan McDonagh provoked public fury when he confirmed to the Dail’s Public Accounts Committee that his agency was paying two developers €200,000 salaries.

Today’s fresh revelation that other developers — all of whom were put into receivership by Nama — could also be in line for massive pay packets from private investors will only serve to add to the public’s sense of outrage.

Nama cannot prevent a developer whose loans or assets it has taken over from working for, or acting as a consultant to, any individual or entity who acquires a property from it. According to its code of practice, Nama only prohibits the sale of a developer’s assets to a prospective buyer where it has reason to believe that they are in some way linked to or acting on behalf of the developer, either as a nominee or as a trustee.

There is nothing in the code to prevent a developer advising or working for someone who wants to buy the assets they once controlled.

This latest controversy comes just five months after Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed his concern to the the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Cork that developers could be buying back assets seized from them by Nama at heavily discounted prices.

Responding to Mr Kenny’s concerns, Nama chairman Frank Daly told the same assembly that he had an “assurance” that developers were not buying back their own assets from the agency.

But Mr Daly did not rule out the possibility that it could happen, saying: “I don’t think in this world anybody can guarantee 100 per cent that nothing will ever happen but I can assure everybody that there is an absolute determination in Nama that this will not happen.”

- RONALD QUINLAN

source: independent.ie