The chairman of NAMA says it can avoid making a loss over its lifetime, but admits there is little chance of recovering the face value of loans held by the agency, Independent.ie reported. Frank Daly yesterday said he was confident NAMA would recover the €31bn it paid banks for property loans, plus the cost of running the agency, over its 10-year lifetime. Mr Daly and NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh were addressing a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.

Property prices have fallen by 68 per cent since their peak, significantly more than official figures suggest, a new report said today, the Irish Times reported. Tough credit conditions, an oversupply of housing and weak domestic demand have weighed on the residential property market in recent months, while a lack of transparency has helped draw out the property crash. The report from Goodbody Stockbrokers shows property has fallen by 68 per cent from peak asking prices, based on property prices recently achieved at Allsop Space auctions.

Senior Government figures, including Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, have urged caution about any early breakthrough with the troika over improving the terms of the €30 billion promissory note for the former Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported. Yesterday, Mr Gilmore, Mr Noonan and Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte separately confirmed progress has been made with the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF, but all dampened expectations about new terms being agreed in the immediate future.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has told RTÉ that the Government is currently in discussions with European authorities to reduce Ireland’s debt burden from the banking crisis, thejournal.ie reported. Speaking on The Week in Politics, which will be broadcast later tonight, Noonan confirmed negotiations on a major restructuring of Ireland’s banking debts were already underway. The talks are not only focused on Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes but will also take in loss-making tracker mortgages at AIB and Bank of Ireland, he said.

Ireland is likely to need a second bailout when its current aid program ends, rating agency Moody’s warned today, the Irish Times reported. In its weekly credit outlook report, Moody’s also warned a No vote in the upcoming fiscal treaty referendum would bar Ireland from receiving further funds under the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The agency predicted the Government would have to rely on the ESM for additional funding after the existing bailout program expires in 2014.

Talks on restructuring the €31 billion in promissory notes are well advanced, according to Craig Beaumont of the International Monetary Fund. The head of the IMF’s Ireland team said much consensus existed among his organisation, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Irish Government on restructuring the notes. An agreement on the €31 billion of promissory notes, which accounts for just under one-fifth of total public debt of €164 billion as of the end of last year, could significantly reduce the risk of the Irish State defaulting on its sovereign obligations.

Ireland's gradual recovery from euro zone basket case to periphery pin-up faces a testing time after the government called a referendum on Europe's new fiscal treaty that will put austerity in the firing line, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Enda Kenny surprised parliament on Tuesday by announcing the vote, Ireland's fifth on Europe in 11 years. It will be first and possibly only plebiscite on a German-led plan for stricter budget discipline across the bloc.

Loan impairments at Permanent TSB more than trebled last year on the back of rising mortgage arrears and tighter Central Bank guidance on provisions, the Irish Times reported. The bank said last night that thee had been a sharp rise in the number of mortgage loans that are in arrears for more than 90 days. At the end of last year, more than 11.5 per cent of mortgage loans were more than 90 days in arrears, up from 6.8 per cent at the end of 2010.

The Irish government announced plans to call a referendum on the new European Union budget discipline treaty, a vote it—and the rest of the euro zone—had hoped to avoid, The Wall Street Journal reported. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told Parliament that he had made the decision following advice given to his cabinet by Attorney General Maire Whelan. He said he would discuss the timing over the next few weeks. The Irish have a habit of rejecting EU referendums. They passed the Nice and Lisbon treaties only in re-run votes.

Bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn appeared before the Commercial Court for the first time today urging permission to defend claims by Anglo Irish Bank that he has liability for some or all of €2.34 billion loans made to various Quinn companies, the Irish Times reported. Mr Quinn told Mr Justice Peter Kelly he was “a simple farmer’s son” who didn’t need much time to argue his entitlement to be represented in his family’s case against Anglo aimed at avoiding liability for the loans, and could be ready within a week or so.