Taxpayer suffers to save property developers

IN his business section column (July 25), Brian O’Mahony probably raises the question that’s on everyone’s mind: what about everything else besides the banking crisis? What about unemployment, Bord Snip, Lisbon II, the property crash, schools and garda stations closing, our senior citizens, medical card and health cuts, as well social welfare, children’s allowance cuts, etc.

But where is the Government’s focus? It’s on NAMA. Does anybody small a rat here? NAMA is planning to buy debts at 70% of their value, yet recent cases involving Zoe Development and Tivway indicate the debts may not be worth any more than 30% and 10% respectively.

If these two cases are in any way representative of the other 48 developers being bailed out by the Government, NAMA proves to be nothing more than another dig-out for vested interests. The real penny that needs to drop is public perception of NAMA — do people really understand what is happening? Perhaps if there was a NAMA 10% tax or levy notice stamped on wage packet slips, people would understand the full implications. The money for Nama will come from the public purse. It may not be as obvious as the PTSB’s recent interest rate hike, but its effect on take-home earnings could be multiplied by a factor of 10 or perhaps 15.

What saves the property developer will cause great pain to the taxpayer and the entire nation. All NAMA does is remove debt from a few and spread it round the many.

If the Government is successful in applying Nama in its current form, it will not only be reopening the property developer tent at Galway races, it will be inflicting debt and suffering on this nation for generations to come on a monstrous scale. We cannot afford to get this wrong, but from what we’ve seen so far, it’s looking very likely.

Let us not forget this is the same government that brought us PPARS, evoting and decentralisation. It is therefore within the realm of possibility they could get NAMA wrong. The big difference is the scale of the potential error and the effect it will have on the amount of tax citizens will have to pay. NAMA, in its current form, is not the answer.

Paul Feeney

Botanic Hall

Glasnevin

Dublin 11