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NAMA WILL BECOME a major force in the construction sector over the next six years, with plans to pump up to €3 billion into building in the capital before it winds up in 2020.
The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan today said that the agency will pivot away from its original role, which was to dispose of toxic property loans issued during the construction boom.
The centrepiece of the new strategy is a €1.5 billion plan to transform Dublin’s south docklands into ‘Ireland’s Canary Wharf’, with a split between grade A office space, retail units, and some residential buildings.
In addition to the docklands plan, a further €1.5 billion will be made available for construction of homes in the capital.
Minister Noonan said that the agency can fund “up to half of Dublin’s new housing requirement over the next five years”, in addition to development in neighbouring counties and other urban centres.
The agency will continue to operate in its new roles to the intended wind-down date of 2020, putting pay to speculation that it could be wound up several years earlier due to an accelerated sales process of its loan book.
Loan book disposal
That loan book will now be primarily disposed of by the end of 2016, with a new target of 80% of loans to be sold by that stage.
All the loans will be disposed by 2018 under the new plan, leaving open the prospect of Nama having a two year run as a pure property development agency.
Noonan said that he had considered an earlier wind-up of the agency by 2018, but felt that it would be better positioned to use its expertise to potentially contribute to “the economic life of Dublin and the economic life of the country”.
Docklands plan
Of the Docklands, the Minister said that the agency “has as opportunity to bring this area to life”.
He said that a redeveloped docklands would form “a powerful eastern flank to Dublin’s inner city”.
The blueprint for the docklands redevelopment is an area similar to waterside business centres in Singapore and Boston.
No other European city has a piece of land like this
Speaking on RTE’s News at One, chairman Frank Daly admitted that developers who had loans transferred to Nama could end up developing in the docklands. He said that the bad bank had been investing with debtors throughout its existence.
“If they are prepared to work with us, we are prepared to work with them. Could that happen down in the Docklands? Yes, it could.”
Housing
Nama’s land bank, which includes vast areas in the South and West of Dublin city, can accommodate up to 22,000 new houses, the Minister said. Around 3,000 units are ‘shovel-ready’, meaning they can move into construction immidiately.
Another 19,000 are at the pre-planning or design stage.
The agency also controls loans linked to 2,600 hectares of residentially zoned development land in counties Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth, all key commuter centres for the capital.
Nama chairman Frank Daly said that he considers the new objectives a “major priority”.
Joint ventures
The bad bank has already sought expressions of interest from potential partners in joint ventures, with over 200 companies now registered as potential co-developers. A register of these developers will not be published.
Many of the interested parties hail from the US, UK or other non-domestic markets.
Rate of return
The agency was strongly criticised in a report earlier this year by the Comptroller and Auditor General for not setting a ‘rate of return’, or financial performance target.
At a briefing today, Nama chairman Frank Daly said that the focus remains on repaying the debt rather than setting new financial targets. He said that the agency will respond to the C&AG’s concerns in due course.
The Minister said today that he hopes the State’s bad bank will be able to pay back most of its debt to the state on disposal of 80% of its portfolio, raising the possibility that the proceeds of the remaining sales may actually constitute a profit for the Government.
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That’s a significant shortfall. I would imagine compensation and workload are barriers to recruitment. Good luck with that….
This could be a good time for a Fact Check…..
Is there a sign on window staff wanted apply within.
Are all of these vacancies at front line medical staff level or are they ALL vacancies – admin, cleaning, managerial etc.? It would be good to know the facts.
It might shock you to realise that without admin and support staff a hospital simply couldn’t operate. Who buys in supplies? Who delivers them to the wards and theatre? Who negotiates with suppliers for best price? Who runs the tenders for the big contracts to ensure top service and value for money? Your money, you the taxpayer. And that’s only one area of admin. Who pays the suppliers to ensure continuance of supply? We lowly admin people may not be treating patients but our contribution is vital to the smooth running of the hospital. It’ll also interest you to know that most hospitals have outside contractors for cleaning and so those staff wouldn’t be included in the numbers.
“Top service and value for money” ….are you having a laugh. The public service is hamstrung by the unions who do not allow any flexibility of work practices. Demarcation is the order of the day! And as for procurement, the public service procurement function is the absolute worst example of how to get value for the tax payer!
We are operating under EU procurement rules. So go and take it up with them. Or why don’t you come in and do a better job if we’re making such a hash of it. We have had to be very flexible in the last few years as nobody who left was replaced. So the work had to be absorbed by the remaining staff. But hey, don’t listen to someone who is actually working in the area, sit back at your keyboard and criticise a job you don’t do and are therefore clueless about. Better still, sack all the admin staff and give all their work to the frontline staff. And watch hospitals collapse under the strain. Idiot!
If you want to contact someone in the hospital who do you ring? Admin staff. If you want to know when a test is? Admin staff. Need to query something with a doctor/nurse? Admin staff. Need the hospital cleaned? Admin staff. Need the patients fed? Admin staff. Need patients transported around the hospital? Admin staff. I could go on.
I would say staff shortages will soon cost more than they save once the lawsuits for patients not receiving enough care start happening.
Living in Dublin is just too expensive. Until the housing emergency is solved this will only get worse.
And you can thank Kenny, Noonan and Burton for that. Great thinkers and forward planners!
I can imagine the adverts trying to woo nurses, doctors and physios home “come to Ireland, where you will be paid less, taxed more, be scapegoated by your manager, the hospital, the HSE and the government, where politicians will spin things to make the public think you are overpaid and underworked….”. I can imagine those living in Australia, Canada etc chomping at the bit to leave their well paid and respected jobs to come home.
” keep the recovery going” brings a whole new meaning to noonan’s comment. . .
Following an injury (dislocated shoulder) I ended up in the casualty department in Beaumont at 22:30. I got the best treatment. Everybody was so so nice and so efficient. No waiting.
For all my follow up appointments I ve been seen within 15mins of the given time. (Today I’ve been seen by the physio 5 minutes before the time.)
Well done to all the staff there. They deserve a medal!
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