Second former FG leader backs NAMA

A SECOND former Fine Gael leader has backed the Government’s proposed National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).

In a major embarrassment for the party, Alan Dukes joined Garret FitzGerald in supporting the coalition’s plan to buy €90 billion of property loans from the banks in a bid to cleanse their balance sheets of risky debt.

Mr Dukes delivered a withering put-down of Fine Gael’s alternative “good bank-bad bank” proposal, saying it was “very cumbersome, very doubtful of success and much less clear in effect than the NAMA proposal”.

While NAMA also had “big questions” hanging over it because of the nature of the problem involved, it was the best of the proposals on the table, he said.

“Of those that are before us, it’s the one that’s best capable [of fixing the problem],” added Mr Dukes, who was appointed by the Government to the board of Anglo Irish Bank earlier this year.

But Fine Gael shot back, claiming virtually no “independent” commentators supported the NAMA plan.

“In Fine Gael’s view, the NAMA proposal itself is risky, contentious and cumbersome,” a spokesman said.

“Our concerns are shared by the European Central Bank, which said it was worried that NAMA would massively overpay for toxic assets, wouldn’t get credit flowing and would place an unfair share of the burden on the taxpayer.

“Virtually no independent commentators support it and it’s obvious that, despite the barrage of endorsements from Fianna Fáil, developers, banks and other vested interests, the public have seen the truth behind the NAMA gamble with 75% of voters refusing to back the plan.”

Meanwhile, Labour has written to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan raising a number of legal and constitutional questions about the draft legislation to establish NAMA.

The Cabinet is continuing to work on the final version of the legislation, which will go before the Dáil when it resumes on September 16.

Independent think-tank TASC called yesterday on Mr Lenihan to rectify a “transparency deficit” in the draft legislation.

Of particular concern, according to TASC, is the fact that the current proposals create new secrecy provisions when openness should instead be a priority.

“TASC is concerned at the provisions of Sections 7 and 171 to introduce new confidentiality provisions and offences, as well as Section 49 of the draft legislation which stipulates that reports by NAMA to the minister will automatically be ‘deemed to be confidential’,” said Dr Nat O’Connor of TASC.

TASC also argued that NAMA should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.