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Has the Republic of Ireland become a de facto socialist state? The Emerald Isle will be abuzz this morning with the news that the government has unveiled a €90billion plan to rescue banks and kickstart an economy that is one of Europe’s hardest hit by the global recession. The Irish Independent reports that by entrusting the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) with extensive powers to take over land and development projects from borrowers who are not keeping up with their repayments, that “the Irish state will effectively become one of the biggest property owners in the world.”
The European Commission is expected to rubber-stamp this legislation ahead of it being voted by the Dáil(Irish parliament) in early September. Ireland’s finance minister Brian Lenihan expects most of NAMA's work will be done in seven to 10 years. Given the extent, however, of the 2007/2008 crash in the country’s overinflated building industry, the Dublin daily points out that this Irish “bad bank” (i.e. an institution that holds non-performing assets) may still be cleaning up toxic investments in 2039.
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