Too much or too little? Given the scale of needed recapitalisation and the fact that much of it would have to come from the State, the decision on precisely how much capital to require as of the first transfer of developer loans to NAMA presented risks in both directions.
Insist on much too much capital – more than seemed likely to be needed – and the ability of the State to retain access to market finance could be immediately and unnecessarily be lost; on the other hand, fixing an amount of required capital that subsequently proved inadequate would have reputational consequences.