Tánaiste Joan Burton has sharply criticised suggestions that the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) might pay bonuses to developers.

She said the only bonus she wanted to see paid was the partial restoration of the Christmas bonus to pensioners and long-term social welfare claimants.

“The suggestion that we would put developers in the queue before our pensioners for bonus payments, I mean, I think it is an appalling idea,’’ Ms Burton added.

Speaking during a Christmas interview with journalists, the Tánaiste said she would be “astonished’’ if it was suggested payments to developers were a priority.

The cost of salaries for 122 developers working for Nama currently comes to €10 million annually. Three individuals draw salaries of €200,000, while a further 13 are paid between €150,000 and €199,000.

At a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week, Nama chief executive Brendan McDonagh said while no developers currently received performance related bonuses, it was something that was under consideration.

In a statement, Nama said there was “no question of paying bonuses to debtors’’, but added “possible incentivisation arrangements’’ would be triggered if “very ambitious or stretch financial targets’’ were met.

“If, in the future, debtors achieve these stretch targets, in certain cases, they will retain a small proportion of any excess achieved above target levels,’’ it added.

“The vast share of any excess will go to Nama and ultimately to taxpayers if the stretch financial targets are achieved.’’

The statement said the objective was to ensure that debtors were motivated to extract maximum value from the workout and realisation of their assets. Very few debtors were likely to achieve the stretch financial targets set for them, it added.

“The incentivisation of debtors is particularly relevant given the shortage of residential supply in Dublin and other urban areas,’’ said the statement.