For our children’s sake, let’s hope NAMA can beat the sharp operators

Rumours are rampant that our largest developers are transferring properties to spouses and relatives to circumvent “personal guarantees” being invoked to seize their lucrative personal assets

AFTER months of fevered activity in the attorney general’s office, the NAMA bill is ready – the most significant legislation in the history of the State. Its 400 pages and 200 sections will nationalise massive chunks of the property and lending market. It is the most speculative gamble by any government to rescue the banks. There is no international precedent for such State intervention.

Government, financiers and property developers say there is no alternative. We agree fixing the banks is a fundamental prerequisite to economic recovery. We accept that if every bad property loan was to be liquidated the market could not cope. An orderly period is necessary to allow the market to stabilise. A mechanism is required to manage these assets and then dispose of them. That’s as far as the consensus goes.