John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I return to what Deputy Mary Lou McDonald said. Having listened to what has been said here, I firmly believe the process should have been abandoned. There is no doubt in my mind about this, although one may say it is with the benefit of hindsight.

Bearing in mind what has been said in relation to the small economy, the small number of players, the information being shared, the memorandum of understanding and the political system, it does stink a bit. I am deeply concerned about it. I know the Comptroller and Auditor General is about to undertake, or is in the process of undertaking, an investigation or an analysis of some of the sales within NAMA, and the sooner this comes into the public domain, the better. It was ill-judged not to have abandoned the process. Some way has to be found to co-operate with the investigation in Northern Ireland and to link what happened in the South with what seems to be the construction of a web and the same players, as outlined by Deputy McDonald. It has to happen.

We had an example of this when the Committee of Public Accounts met its counterparts in Northern Ireland. It would serve NAMA and it would serve the system well if there were collaboration and co-operation all round and to have a full-scale investigation with all parties concerned brought to the table. There is no other way out of this because out of this hearing today, we have to decide what we do with the information. It is inconclusive because the other players are not here with us, and it is disturbing because of the knowledge that was held by individuals, in particular the PIMCO revelation about the £15 million.