Ministers are to meet again tomorrow to finalise legislation for setting up the National Asset Management Agency.
A Cabinet meeting today heard a detailed presentation from Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan on the provisions of the Bill, which runs to some 150 pages.
Ministers will continue their discussions tomorrow, when they hope to wrap up the last Cabinet meeting before the summer holiday.
One of the key issues to be settled is how property will be valued, and that is expected to be set out in the Bill.
That will determine the discount the taxpayer will get from developers when the State takes over underperforming loans.
Ministers will also be conscious of the risks of any attempt to speedily dispose of properties in a so-called fire sale that would drive down value across the sector.
The NAMA legislation is due to be published later in the week, and should pass all stages into law by mid-September.
THE NTMA - under whose aegis the new body will operate - has already completed much of the preparatory work for NAMA.
It is anticipated that it will take over the loan books of 50 of the country's largest developers - worth €30bn in total - by the end of the year.
Some observers have claimed that when it is fully operational, the agency will manage the largest property portfolio in the world with a book value of some €80bn.
