Dukes wants Nama subject to FoI Act

THE CHAIRMAN-designate of Anglo Irish Bank, Alan Dukes, has said the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) should be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Dukes made the point at the annual Burren Law School in Ballyvaughan at the weekend when responding to criticism by Prof Brian Lucey of Trinity College Dublin over Nama’s exclusion from the FoI Act.

Prof Lucey said that Anglo should be closed down.

Addressing Mr Dukes, who was sitting in the audience, Prof Lucey said: “Anglo is dead. Sorry Alan. It is not working as a bank and can’t work as a bank, therefore we have to close it.”

Before the debate, Mr Dukes said the European Commission had asked Anglo to examine what would happen if it was wound down over 20 years.

“Personally, I think that is stupid, but we’ll look at it.”

Mr Dukes added that Anglo was also examining a 10-year wind-down.

Anglo has had one business plan rejected by the commission and is currently drawing up a revised one that has to be submitted by May 20th.

Mr Dukes said: “The commission came back with a whole series of questions and we are now rejigging the restructuring plan to deal with the issues the commission has raised. One of the things we are looking at is what would be the situation if we liquidated the bank immediately? Total disaster. A total non-runner.

“I would hope that we would have a view from the commission by the end of June, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a bit later than that. The best prospect of getting some value out of it and reducing the total cost to the taxpayer is keeping the good bank of it, because eventually it could be sold on to the benefit of the taxpayer.

“If you just do a wind-down, it is losses all the way. Whereas if you can make a good bank of it, which should be a quarter of the size of the whole bank, at least you have got something viable and that can be sold off to the private sector in the fullness of time.”