Lenihan denies taxes were raised to bail out developers

BRIAN LENIHAN angrily denied opposition charges that income taxes have been raised to bail out greedy bankers and developers via the NAMA scheme.

Defending the way the agency has been structured, the Finance Minister hit back at claims it was targeted at rewarding reckless lenders and builders. Mr Lenihan said debtors would be pursued for the money they owe banks on bad land deals being taken over by NAMA. “The whole nature of this operation is that it is the developer and the bank that takes the first hit, not the taxpayer,” he told RTÉ.

Mr Lenihan also claimed the banking crisis was “entirely separate” to the financial crisis as he criticised the opposition and union leaders for suggesting they were interlinked.