Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will come back to that.

I am raising the point not to cast aspersions on any individual but to suggest this is a matter of good practice and of having systems in place. It should not be a matter of Mr. Daly or me speculating on whether staff are being recruited for reason A, B or C or for insider knowledge. Given the task and mandate of NAMA and the fact that there could be outside interests that just might seek to headhunt a senior member of staff from NAMA for his insider knowledge - having such knowledge is unavoidable if the staff member is doing his job properly, which I presume is the case - there should, as a matter of good practice, be a cooling-off period. A period of 12 months would be appropriate and not overly arduous. It would not stop somebody from getting a different job but would stop him from getting a job that would result in a conflict of interest. I would have believed that the board of NAMA would have raised that matter with the Minister as a matter of good practice. It has not done so.