Nama projected to return almost €5bn to Exchequer

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Nama is projected to return at least €4.9 billion to the Exchequer by the end of 2025, according to the Minister for Finance.

So far, the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) has transferred a total of €4.25 billion to the Exchequer, made up of €3.85 billion from its lifetime surplus and more than €400 million in corporation tax payments.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said Nama, which was set up by the Government in 2009 after the financial crash, had been “very effective” in managing its loan portfolio and maximising value of its assets.

He said it had consistently generated profits over a 13-year period.

Mr McGrath said: “This strong commercial performance has exceeded expectations and Nama’s success has been augmented by the Agency’s considerable achievements in relation to its supplemental objectives.

“Nama has facilitated the delivery of housing at significant scale – 34,000 new homes were funded or enabled by Nama by end-2023.

“Moreover, Nama made a major and long-lasting contribution to the regeneration of Dublin Docklands through the delivery of extensive new commercial and residential space.”

Meanwhile, the minister provided an update on the special liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which was formed after Anglo Irish Bank was taken into State ownership.

He said the IBRC loan portfolio had a par value of €21 billion, consisting of over 15,000 borrower groups and was supported by collateral based in 22 different jurisdictions worldwide.

In September last year, the remaining loan book had a par value of €3.6 billion.

The State had received approximately €1.7 billion from the special liquidation in respect of its unsecured creditor claims, interest on these claims, and its holding of the preference shares in the bank.

Any remaining funds left in the liquidation once all remaining tasks are completed will be returned to the State as the owner of the equity in the former bank.

The first surplus transfer of €35 million took place in December 2023.

Mr McGrath said it is now “timely” to make arrangements for Nama and the special liquidation of the IBRC to conclude their work.

Nama is taking steps to wind down by the end of 2025.

The liquidation of the IBRC is expected to “substantially conclude” by the end of this year, according to the Minister.

However, a “resolution unit” has been established to manage likely “residual activity” from both entities after those deadlines.

It will be resourced by the National Treasury Management Agency.