For too long in Ireland’s recent past, big numbers meant bad news: billions lost as a result of poor lending, billions written off bank balance sheets and billions added to the national debt. But 2014 showed that big numbers can also mean good news – the billions invested in the Irish commercial property market and in Irish loan portfolios in 2014 reduced substantially the contingent liability of Irish taxpayers to IBRC and to NAMA and will give much-needed impetus to Ireland’s economic recovery and to employment.

By the end of 2014, NAMA had generated €23.7 billion in cash from the loans it acquired. We sold assets totalling €18.7 billion to investors whose interest in investing in Ireland has been transformed by the economic recovery.

To date, we have approved €3.2 billion in loan advances to debtors and receivers, investing in our assets to make them worth more for Irish taxpayers, to support jobs and to stimulate further investment in our economy.

We finished 2014 in a strong position, closer to our destination, although much work remains to be done.

Ancillary mandates

2014 also saw NAMA being tasked by the Minister for Finance with additional responsibilities. Following the completion of the Minister’s review of the Agency, undertaken under Section 227 of the NAMA Act, we have been asked to carry out two new mandates.

The first is to ensure the timely and coherent delivery of key Grade A office, retail and residential space within the Dublin Docklands SDZ and Dublin’s Central Business District. The second is to maximise the delivery of residential housing units in areas of most need.

We believe we can deliver on these ancillary mandates and we are already making strong progress on both fronts. Major strides were made in 2014 on advancing the development of the Dublin Docklands SDZ. Following approval of the Docklands SDZ Scheme by An Bord Pleanála in May 2014, NAMA intensified preparatory work in relation to the development land within the SDZ in which it holds an interest (75% of the 22 hectares of developable land in the SDZ area). Initial appraisal work suggests that up to 3.8m sq. ft. of commercial space and 1,950 apartments could potentially be delivered if all the 15 sites in which NAMA has an interest are fully developed over the next decade.

In that context, a number of initiatives announced towards the end of 2014 will help, including the initiation of the planning process for the development of the landmark Boland’s Mill site and the award of a long leasehold interest for a site on North Wall Quay to Oxley Holdings Limited (Project Wave). NAMA is also a minority shareholder in a number of funds which are engaged in the development of five other Docklands sites on some of which construction has already commenced.

The development potential offered by the SDZ is illustrated by the proposed redevelopment of the Boland’s Mill site: it alone will deliver approximately 350,000 sq. ft. of new quality office space (the equivalent of almost 20% of the office space contained in the International Financial Services Centre), a block of 42 apartments, a cultural and exhibition space and substantial retail and restaurant space. When completed, the redevelopment will create a new urban quarter, opening up public access to a large city block with new streets and open spaces in a waterfront area adjoining the Grand Canal Dock Basin.

As part of its contribution to address emerging residential supply shortages in the Greater Dublin area, NAMA established a dedicated Residential Delivery team in April 2014. The team is driving delivery of NAMA’s commitment to facilitate the completion of 4,500 new residential units in the period to the end of 2016 and to assess the scope for delivery of additional units thereafter. The end-2014 delivery target of 1,000 units has been exceeded; our target is to deliver another 1,500 units in 2015 with the residual to be delivered in 2016.

We have the capacity, if required, to invest up to €3 billion in these and other viable projects which can deliver high-quality offices and new homes in Dublin and other areas where there is strong demand.

Making a wider contribution

NAMA is not just about generating financial returns. We can and are making a broader contribution to the Irish economy. We have, for example, helped stimulate Ireland’s property market recovery by bringing assets to the market in an orderly way, tapping into growing domestic and international investor interest and generating that interest.

We are working closely with IDA Ireland in relation to assets in our portfolio that may be suitable for companies looking to establish or expand existing business operations in Ireland. This has resulted in a number of important transactions in the Irish economy with companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo and LinkedIn.

We are supporting debtor businesses which, in total, directly employ more than 15,000 people in Ireland – this is in addition to people employed in construction projects that NAMA is funding.

We are facilitating the delivery of social housing. We exceeded our target of delivering 1,000 homes for social housing by the end of 2014 and our target is to deliver an additional 1,000 units in 2015, subject to local authorities and housing bodies confirming their intention to buy or lease these homes from NAMA debtors and receivers or directly from NAMA’s social housing SPV, NARPSL.

NAMA is a commercial entity and of course we are delivering on the commercial mandate set for us by the Oireachtas, but NAMA does not operate in a vacuum. We are very sensitive to the impact of our work on the wider Irish economy and we work hard to ensure that our impact is a positive one.

Conclusion

Five years on from its establishment, NAMA is firmly on course to repay its senior and subordinated bonds and is confident of generating a surplus for Irish taxpayers. If we achieve these objectives, much of the credit must go to the dedication, hard work and ability of NAMA’s Board and NAMA staff so ably led by CEO Brendan McDonagh. The coming years offer NAMA a unique opportunity to combine its blend of property and finance expertise, its lending capability and the assets under the control of its debtors and receivers, with the aim of making a major contribution to addressing current and prospective supply shortages and, more generally, of leaving a positive imprint on Ireland’s economy and society after we complete our work. It is an opportunity that we look forward to tackling with energy and vigour.