INDEPENDENT TD and property developer Mick Wallace has admitted that he still remains about €40 million in debt – and that it will be some time before property prices return to a level where he might hope to repay them.

“It’s been well flagged – I owe about €40m to the banks still, and any of the assets that will have been against that money are being held by the banks.” Wallace told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning.

“We’re still controlling all the properties at the minute, and renting them, and giving the rent to the banks. That’s more or less been the state of play for over three years now.”

Wallace said he hoped the banks would continue to exercise patience with him and his business dealings as they had shown since the property boom ended in 2008.

But Wallace also warned that there was “no way” that property in Ireland would return to its previous values, and warned that it would be a bad thing for Ireland to try and artificially re-inflate the market.

Commenting on NAMA’s moves to call in receivers to the property empire of the Grehan brothers, meanwhile, Wallace said NAMA was apparently moving on developers it felt were “beyond recovery”, and that it made sense to begin liquidating their assets with the sale of overseas property given the state of the domestic market.

In the meantime, developments in the State’s control which were not earmarked for a quick sale should be deployed for public use in projects like social housing, he added.

“There isn’t any bottom in the market yet and I don’t think we’re going to see a bottom in the market until we know what’s going to happen to a massive quantity of property that’s being held by NAMA.

“I’m not saying what the best thing to do with it is, but I do know that until there’s a decision made on it, you’re not going to see a bottom in the market.”

A complete bottoming-out of the market should be embraced as a positive move for businesses, he concluded.

Wallace’s construction business is responsible for Dublin’s Italian quarter as well as a host of other apartment developments across the city. He is also the founder, sponsor and manager of the Wexford Youths soccer club.

His TDs’ salary is €92,672 a year.