Receivers get €76.6m windfall in Nama fees

This year has proved to be another bonanza one for receivers to the National Assets Management Agency debtors with the firms picking up €18.27m to date in receivership fees.

According to figures provided by the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, Nama receivers have secured €76.6m in fees since Nama’s establishment in 2010.

In a written Dáil response to Fianna Fáil Finance spokesman Michael McGrath, Mr Noonan confirmed that Nama selected 68 firms from a panel after a public procurement process in respect of the 443 receiver appointments.

The 443 appointments exclude 67 made prior to Nama’s acquisitions of the loans.

The payout of €18.27m this year follows €21.92m paid out to Nama receivers last year; €19.23m in 2012; €15.19m in 2011 and €2m in 2010.

Mr Noonan confirmed that Nama has appointed 66 receivers to firms this year; 101 appointments last year; 63 receiver appointments in 2012; 67 in 2011, and 79 in 2010. The minister pointed out that the receiver fees are met out of receivership realisations.

Commenting on the figures yesterday, Michael McGrath said that the Comptroller and Auditor General should examine the payments to receivers to determine “if the vast amounts of money being paid out to receivers represent value for money”.

Mr McGrath said that the appointment of receivers to firms “is a difficult and messy business, but the figures show that it has been a boom for insolvency practitioners”.

He said that the figures also underline “the extraordinary level of enforcement activity taken against debtors by Nama. The amount paid out to receivers does seem to be exceptionally high”.

The figures show that insolvency practitioners have received on average €173,000 from the 443 appointments.

Mr McGrath said that long receiverships result in massive receivership costs.

He said: “Nama has obviously had to make difficult judgment calls as to whether to appoint receivers in the first place.”

He pointed out that the figures do not include the receivers appointed by other banks including those seeking to exit the Irish market which, he said, took a much more aggressive stance with those firms experiencing trading difficulties.

Separately, Mr Noonan has confirmed that Nama has approved long-term rent reliefs to leaseholders of property of Nama debtors and receivers with a value in excess of €40m.

In a separate Dáil response to Mr McGrath, Mr Noonan stated that Nama has received 370 eligible applications for rent abatement through its debtors and receivers.

He state that 339 applications have been approved with 19 being currently assessed and 12 have been refused.

The minister stated: “The aggregate annual value of approved rent abatements to date is €22m.”

Mr McGrath said that “it is good to see such a high approval rate on formal applications for rent relief and that is to be welcomed”.

He said: “In the absence of any Government action on upward-only rents, many tenants are still paying Celtic Tiger rents and I don’t believe that the rent abatements made available by Nama are widely known about.”