Irish house prices continued to fall last month, and at a faster pace than the previous month, the Irish Times reported. House prices dropped 1.6 per cent in August, compared to a 0.8 per cent fall in July. On an annual basis, house prices were 13.9 per cent lower last month than the previous August. This compares to an annual rate of decline of 12.5 per cent in July. The latest monthly figures, which were released by the CSO today, mean that residential properties are now 43 per cent lower than in 2007.

In the High Court recently there was a ruling on the liquidator of DR Developments (Youghal) Limited whereby he cannot charge fees for selling houses on behalf of AIB without firstly obtaining a Court order before the sale, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The liquidator, Gerard Murphy of Gerard Murphy & Company was appointed Official Liquidator to the company on 17th May 2010 on foot of a petition from Healy Bros Limited. The liquidator had sought Court approval to sell the assets of the company for AIB, or approval of the sale arrangements when finalised with the bank.

Almost €4 billion from the National Pension Reserve Fund which was invested in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank last year has been written off, according to the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Irish Times reported. The report shows that up to the end of 2010, the NPRF invested €11.35 billion in Ireland's two biggest banks. However, as a result of an impairment loss of €3.7 billion, the value of this investment fell to €7.6 billion.

EU finance ministers have signed off on a package of interest rate cuts on Ireland’s bailout which will benefit the State by up to € 10 billion during the course of the rescue, the Irish Times reported. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will today raise Anglo Irish Bank when he meets European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet but he has acknowledged there is little prospect of the bank allowing him not to repay some of Anglo’s senior debt.

Anglo Irish Bank chairman Alan Dukes has said the bank will be able to pursue former chief executive David Drumm through the Irish courts again if its objection to his discharge from bankruptcy in Boston is successful, the Irish Times reported. The bank expected a decision on its objection in the “relatively near future”, Mr Dukes told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. “If that goes in the way we hope, that will leave it open to us to pursue actions here,” he said.

Allied Irish Banks has written-off mortgage debts in a small number of cases where it has repossessed houses but is working on industry-wide long-term solutions to lessen the debt burden for struggling borrowers to help them stay in their homes, the Irish Times reported. Speaking to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, AIB executive chairman David Hodgkinson said he was consulting with the Department of Finance and the Central Bank on a wide range of solutions to assist distressed customers.

Anglo Irish Bank and Seán Quinn exchanged harsh criticisms ahead of a High Court decision today on whether to restrain Mr Quinn and certain family members from alleged asset-stripping in their overseas property group, the Irish Times reported. Mr Quinn claimed Anglo was pursuing a vendetta against him and his children and ignoring its obligations to the State by agreeing “the worst possible deal” on the restructuring of his group. He claimed the Minister for Finance was misled when he said last April that Quinn Group had been relieved of almost half of its debt in the restructuring.

The National Asset Management Agency plans to seek tenants for some of its 8,000 apartments with a view to selling them as blocks to investors to help shift properties stuck on its books, the Irish Times reported. Brendan McDonagh, chief executive of Nama, said that most of the apartments were in Dublin. The apartment rental scheme is aimed at investment companies that manage rented apartment blocks, particularly in the UK.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is seeking a meeting with European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet as he attempts to avoid repaying a $1 billion (€711.4 million) debt owed by Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported. The Minister declared three months ago that the International Monetary Fund was supporting his effort to impose big losses on the holders of unguaranteed, unsecured senior bonds in Anglo. Such bonds are a form of loan raised by banks on international money markets to fund their own lending operations.

Developer Ray Grehan, whose property interests have been put into receivership by the National Asset Management Agency, has said there is no incentive for him to stay in Ireland and repay his debts to the State loans agency. Mr Grehan said Nama would continue to pursue him for the full €650 million in property loans he owes even though the agency has removed his ability to repay his debts. “There is no future in today’s market in Ireland but there may be a future in 10 years’ time,” he told the Irish Times.