A Commercial Court judge has criticised the 'slipshod' way which the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) went about trying to recover €109 million allegedly owed to it by a Galway property developer and his wife.

Mr. Justice Peter Kelly has refused the application from the agency for summary judgment against Michael and Claire Finn and he has awarded the couple their legal costs.

He says the Commercial Court is entitled to expect better from an organisation as well-resourced as NAMA which has such far reaching powers.

He has found evidential shortcomings in NAMAs bid for summary judgment orders against Galway hotelier and property developer and his wife.

NAMA says the couple owes it €109 million as a result of loans and liabilities to AIB and Anglo Irish Bank which were acquired by the agency in 2010.

However when the Finns questioned where was the evidence to back up this claim that the loans had been acquired the documents supplied as proof fell far short of what the judge believed the court was entitled to expect.

He has refused to make a summary judgment order and the case will go to a full hearing.