Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and Department for giving of their time today. I will be very brief and focus on one issue, the discount rate of 5.5%. This committee will have to assess whether there was a loss to the State. This is arguably the main issue that will decide that. If one uses a rate of 5.5%, the implication is that there is a loss of over €190 million. If it is 10%, it reverses that completely.

When the NAMA representatives were before us, Mr. Brian McEnery was making it clear that one of the prime assets in the control of NAMA was Dundrum shopping centre, which was sold at a discount rate of approximately 3.6%. He also cited the case of a HSE property with a lease of 30 years and said the lease had a Government stamp with a harp on it. It was sold at a discount rate of 7.5%.

I know it is normal to have robust exchanges with the Comptroller and Auditor General in terms of teasing out points and assessing the rates that are appropriate. However, in terms of the Department's discussions, subsequent to the draft report, on the discount rate, how did it drill down and assess the quality of the properties in Project Eagle? It is stated that much of it was in rural Northern Ireland and regional United Kingdom, UK, in other words, it was not as good quality as other property disposed of around that time. One of our limitations, and I imagine the Comptroller and Auditor General is limited in the same way, is that with much of this we are working retrospectively, which makes it difficult to get a full take on the issue. There will be disagreements, and this is a limitation the Committee of Public Accounts will always face. There will always be an argument on what is the correct discount rate. It is made up of business risk and the cost of finance, and there will be arguments about assessing business risk. In terms of the Department, Ms Nolan said there were robust exchanges. In terms of her experience and, importantly, what she was benchmarking it against, what drill down was done of the assets within the project?