Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. Can I raise the issue of NAMA, Mr. Ahearne? And you have addressed it in your witness statement and you are strongly supportive of the NAMA project. But can I put a counter-argument to you, that the NAMA project crystallised immediately losses of €42 billion on the books of the banks, which triggered a massive round of recapitalisation? Subsequently, NAMA sold on the assets at market prices, which were at the lower end of the market, predominantly to US private equity funds or so-called vulture funds, who are now flipping those assets and selling them on for gains. Would it have not have been better to let the banks work their way through the assets at that time?