Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the PPP for the National Convention Centre. Treasury Holdings, which is in liquidation, is the owner of that property. The OPW is the contracting authority and the venue continues to operate even though the owner is in NAMA. Mr. Watt is the Accounting Officer for all Government expenditure. The OPW had a commitment to pay so much per annum to Treasury Holdings - the figures are in the report - for the centre. The company then went into NAMA. Most companies that went into NAMA received a debt write-down of approximately 40%. That write-down is provided through money we put into the banks to make up for the write-downs of loans transferred to NAMA. What discussions have Mr. Watt and the OPW had with the agency? The company's liabilities were written down by the banks, which were paid for by the taxpayer. Am I correct that none of that has been passed on to OPW?

Sometimes I know the answers to questions before I ask them but I do not know the answer before I ask this question. Is there a possibility that the owner of that property received a substantial write-down on its loans and the taxpayer continues to pay the full annual payment for the centre and helps to write off the loans?