The announcement of the Board for NAMA on 22nd of December gave a clear indication of the tone of the new superpower of Irish Development. Its composition is made up of civil servants, financiers and accountants. Any Planning input will only come in an advisory capacity. If not unexpected, it is highly disappointing. While all the Board members are no doubt highly capable and successful in their own fields of expertise, they are not qualified or experienced as a group or individually to manager or develop what will be one of Europe's largest property portfolios.
Frank Daly, is a former head of the Revenue Commissioners,, Eilish Finan is a former CFO of AIG Global Investments. Michael Connolly is a former member of Bank of Ireland senior management team. Peter Stewart is Managing Director of O’Donovan Stewart & Company – firm of chartered accountants, and Brian McEnery is senior partner in Horwath Bastow Charleton specialising in corporate finance and Corporate Recovery. And finally, Willie Soffe is Chairman of the Dublin Transportation Office and former County Manager of Fingal County Council.
Hopes that NAMA may represent an opportunity for a proactive pubic sector body to take a proactive role in development have not got off to a good start. We await with interest to see how planning advisors will be brought into the loop, and if they'll be from outside the DoEHLG/DTO.
No comments:
Post a Comment