Ryan lists Greens' priorities for Nama

THE GREEN Party’s top three priorities for the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) are banking reform, new planning regulations and Oireachtas oversight, according to one of its Ministers Eamon Ryan.

Mr Ryan, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, said these were “the three crucial further things” the Green Party needed. There would be more, he told RTÉ’s Radio One’s This Week programme.

He said the Greens wanted to see a complete change in the culture of Irish banking, adding that money put into banks now must go to businesses here in Ireland.

“We need to make sure that if we are giving the banks capital or funds from Brussels that it’s reinvested back into the Irish economy” and that it “ just doesn’t sit in a deposit account”.

The Minister said the Greens’ second priority was “getting a social dividend” from a new planning system which “guides Nama as to the right type of social and property development that we want”. He said there was an opportunity to undo the mistakes of the last number of decades when land was zoned without planning and developments built without social infrastructure.

The third element the Minister referred to was Oireachtas oversight of Nama “so people are absolutely certain that it’s fair, independent and effective”.

Mr Ryan said the three elements still needed to be “worked on”.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, speaking earlier, described Nama as a Government proposal, and said the parliamentary process would enable Government to see if further “improvements” were required. “The Government will consider them and Government will decide on them collectively one way or the other.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ryan insisted there was a “background incentive” in the Nama process to encourage banks to lend, saying there had been ill-informed comment in recent days about them getting a soft deal.

“One of the things people don’t realise is: we buy these loans from the banks, we’re paying the banks a 1½ per cent interest on that. That’s a fraction of what they wanted. They were negotiating hard to get a much higher rate because that’s the money they get paid. They’re going to get paid a very, very low level. That does provide a real incentive for them to get out and lend. They’re not making any money on that money.”

Mr Ryan said the banking system could not return to “its old ways, where it believes bricks and mortar is the safest bet”. Ireland needed the banks to start taking risks to support enterprises.

Fine Gael TD George Lee said the banks could not be forced to lend and the bottom of the market had not been reached.

Labour deputy Ruairí Quinn welcomed what he said was Mr Ryan’s indication of increased State shareholding. However, he said there was no evidence Government would accept Opposition amendments to Nama.

When Mr Ryan said the Minister for Finance had made it clear he would accept amendments, Mr Quinn said: “He has a silver tongue”.