The Government’s proposed National Asset Management Agency (Nama) fails the critical test of being fair and effective, according to Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton.
He said it would be like shards of glass stuck in the taxpayer for generations.
“The Minister is asking us to give a commitment of €54 billion, €30,000 for every household in the State,” he said. “The taxpayer is being asked not just to buy impaired loans from the banks. We are being asked to pay billions more than the market value for them. Remarkably this extraordinary act is being done without any forensic analysis of the costs and benefits, of the risks and threats.”
Mr Bruton accused the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan of assuming the economy had reached the bottom and was about to bounce back.
“People have learned not to accept glib assurances that everything will turn out right. We can’t risk public money on a belief that things are going to be rosy. We are making a mistake here. Our ship is not seaworthy,” he said.
Mr Bruton said the Government had lost sight of which problem it was trying to solve.
“What is the problem we are seeking to solve. It is not to bail out the banks. Nor is it to bail out the developers. It is to sustain a financial system that can support enterprises and families in their daily business, and protect the opportunity for jobs. At times, the Government has lost sight of this important distinction.”
He pointed to the lack of cost benefit evaluation of the project.
"Today's proposal is 2,000 times bigger than the €30 million threshold on which the Minister for Finance rightly insists on a thorough cost benefit analysis," he said.
"Where is the White Paper setting out the pros and cons, the risks and mitigation? This too is a standard feature of significant new policy departures."