Call it a statement of intent. The Irish government has outlined a scheme for its bad bank agency, Nama, to swallow up to €90bn of bad property loans – a third of them thought to have been made to UK developers. This is Dublin’s latest measure to keep Ireland’s sickly banks afloat. Last year, it guaranteed deposits and debts. Then it nationalised one bank and forced two others to recapitalise. Now, by purging lenders’ worst excesses of the property boom, it hopes to spur fresh lending.

In essence, Dublin will assume the entire risk of the banks’ dodgiest loans by buying them at an unspecified – but “significant” – discount to book value, in exchange for government bonds. Banks will want higher prices.