A FIANNA FÁIL backbencher has announced that he intends to propose an amendment to the Nama Bill to reduce the power of Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan in the valuation process.
Laois Offaly TD Seán Fleming said yesterday that the public needed to be reassured there would be no political involvement in the valuation process that will arise under Nama.
“The public will want to be satisfied that there is not any political involvement in setting the valuation,” Mr Fleming said after the two-day meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party in Athlone.
He said that under the terms of the Bill as it now stands the Minister will have a role in setting valuations if there is a dispute between Nama and the banks over individual loans.
“It would be better to remove the Minister from the process in the Minister’s own interest. If there is a dispute over valuation it should go before a High Court judge. The public want to be happy that there is no interference in the process,” he said.
Mr Fleming added that he was broadly happy with the Nama Bill and believed it was good legislation, but he was putting forward his proposal for the Minister to consider in his own best interests.
“I have absolute confidence in Brian Lenihan but down the line there could be a Labour minister or a Fine Gael minister who has been hostile . . . all along.
“I want to ensure that the minister, whoever it is, has no role in the valuation process. That will reassure the public,” said Mr Fleming. Under current proposals Nama will decide the value of a loan, but if that valuation is disputed by the banks it goes to a valuation panel.
The decision by the panel can then be referred to the Minister for Finance who has the option of reducing it, but not increasing it.
Mr Fleming also said that he wanted to see a Fianna Fáil minister for health so that he or she could be accountable to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
The three Fianna Fáil TDs who have left the parliamentary party over the past year have done so on health issues. But a strong mood exists within the party in favour of readmitting them.
Mr Fleming supported calls made by other speakers during the two-day meeting at the Hodson Bay Hotel for TDs who have lost the party whip to be readmitted to the party.
Cork East TD Ned O’Keeffe said Jimmy Devins, Eamon Scanlon, Jim McDaid and Joe Behan should not be kept outside the party.
