LETTERS TO MINISTER:THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) should be required to register with the Land Registry or the Registry of Deeds, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has been advised.
In correspondence released to The Irish Timesunder the Freedom of Information Act, the Law Society of Ireland and the Property Registration Authority both expressed concern about the exemption for Nama assets to register in the Land Registry or the Registry of Deeds.
The society wrote to Mr Lenihan in September to say “normal conveyancing practice” should not be disrupted by Nama and that the agency should be required to register its interest in a land bank or property title.
The Property Registration Authority said the exemption for Nama assets to register “would appear to run counter to public policy and the necessity of transparency and reliability in land registers”.
Registration on a State register “provides clarity and certainty”, John Coleman, chairman of the Property Registration Authority, wrote to the Department of Finance. Other letters written to Mr Lenihan expressing concerns about the workings of Nama included a note from Bernard Allen TD, chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts.
He wrote to the Minister in May highlighting the committee’s concern at the potential cost to the State arising from Nama. He recommended that the committee have an oversight role in relation to Nama expenditure.
For this to occur, Nama’s accounts would have to be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Mr Allen said.
Under the Nama Bill, the CAG will review the operations of Nama every three years. Fine Gael plans to table an amendment to the Bill seeking a larger role for the CAG in the Seanad next year.
Among the parties to suggest possible social uses of Nama-acquired land, the South Dublin Allotments Association suggested that the undeveloped land assets could be converted into food growing sites, with lands offered to market gardeners “at reasonable commercial rates”.
The Grafton Street Tenants’ Association also made a submission to the Minister, asking for upwards-only rent review clauses in current leases to be removed “by way of an exit/conversion mechanism”. Tenants should also be represented on the board of Nama, the association said.
Ministers and TDs have received numerous letters and e-mails from constituents, most of whom were worried about the long-term implications of Nama. Very few letters were in support of Nama’s establishment.
A constituent of Kildare North, who said he had worked in financial markets in Frankfurt and Dublin for 10 years, was concerned that “gone are the healthy principles of separation and independence” between the State, the National Treasury Management Agency and the banking sector.
A resident of Clane, Co Kildare, urged the Government to implement “temporary but full-blooded” nationalisation of the banks, along the lines discussed in The Irish Times by banking expert Patrick Honohan, since named governor of the Central Bank, in April. “My support for you and for other members of your party in any future elections is predicated on the introduction” of this policy.
Another individual forwarded a copy of an Irish Times article by Trinity economics lecturer Seán Barrett to Mr Lenihan.
“Coming from a man with far superior economic experience than your own, it is clear to me that [Barrett] must be listened to before you invest the country’s future in something it wants no part in,” the individual wrote.
In another letter to Mr Lenihan, a constituent noted that there was a debate about the level of “haircut” applied to Nama assets.
“Make sure it’s a number one blade, tight back and sides,” the constituent remarked. “Otherwise nationalise the banks [and] get the best deal for the ordinary people of this country,” he/she wrote. “People are very angry with this.”
A Dublin North constituent wrote to Fianna Fáil TD Michael Kennedy to assure him he would have his vote “if you are able to help steer us away from the abyss that we are about to fall into”.
Another “citizen of Ireland” wrote to demand that the “Nama scam” be stopped. “Anybody who is foolish enough to leave money in these banks deserves to lose it,” the person added.
