Developers who fail to pay back loans to NAMA won't be named
THE Government will not name and shame developers who fail to pay back their loans to its 'bad bank', NAMA.
Despite paying €54bn for developer loans held by Irish banks, the Government will not tell taxpayers who is failing to meet their repayments to NAMA and how much they owe.
Junior Minister Peter Power said yesterday that developers whose loans are taken over by NAMA are entitled to the same confidentiality as customers of any other bank.
Mr Power was responding to Fine Gael proposals to name the developers as the NAMA legislation made its way through committee stage in the Seanad yesterday.
Fine Gael senators want all developers to be named on a public register -- even those who do not default and are paying their debts to NAMA. It also wants a second register to list all developers who fall in arrears on their loan repayments.
But Mr Power told the Seanad that publishing the names of NAMA developers would cause huge legal difficulties and taxpayers would be exposed to "an avalanche of legal claims".
He said that the Comptroller and Auditor General -- who will audit NAMA's accounts for the Government -- will oversee how NAMA is managing its finances on behalf of the taxpayer.
- Aidan O'Connor
Irish Independent
