Updated 3.30pm

ACCOUNTANT PETER STEWART has resigned his position on the board of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), the Minister for Finance has confirmed today.

Michael Noonan has issued a statement to say that he was informed yesterday that Stewart was resigning.

In a statement of his own, Stewart, a partner with O’Donovan Stewart chartered accountants, said it had been “a great honour and privilege to serve on the board of NAMA.”

But he added that the demands of being on the board of NAMA, the agency which has taken control of many of the bad bank loans that were issued during the boom, were “particularly onerous”.

Stewart, who had been a board member since the establishment of the agency in December 2009, added that he believed the review of the structures of NAMA by the HSBC CEO, Michael Geoghegan should be “fully implemented”.

He said:

This is an appropriate juncture for my decision, particularly with the completion of the review of the structures of NAMA by the former chief executive of HSBC, Michael Geoghegan. His review should result in significant changes to the structures of the agency.

I believe the Geoghegan review should be a watershed in the life of NAMA, and I hope that its recommendations will be fully implemented.

Earlier, in a statement, Noonan said:

“I wish to thank Mr. Stewart for his work on the Board of the National Asset Management Agency.

Mr Stewart, along with the other Board members, has made a very important contribution to the work of the Agency, especially during the extremely busy set up phase of its operations.

I would also like to acknowledge his important role as Chairman of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee of the Agency.

Stewart is a former financial consultant and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.