Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the Deputy and support her in what she has said. We raised the issue of the tone of NAMA's response with the chairman when he was here. The essential argument is that he changed the word "potential" to "probable" and the witnesses are a little bit miffed that they did not have a veto over his final draft but it is his report, not theirs. I was shocked by Mr. Soffe's statement here today. He made ten specific attacks on the Comptroller and Auditor General, including accusing him of no recognition of the commercial reality. He stated that he made mistaken assumptions and that he ignored market advice. He said the Comptroller and Auditor General was simply wrong and that the word "probable" was incongruous. He stated that the Comptroller and Auditor General made unsubstantiated suggestions and that he had failed to take account of certain items and that he expressed a subjective opinion. If the NAMA story is such a good story, why has Mr. Soffe come in here to make ten specific attacks on the person who wrote the report? How about playing your own game instead of attacking the person who wrote the report? I have never seen ten attacks by any public body against the Comptroller and Auditor General. Mr. Soffe should have stated his point of view; he did not need to make those attacks. It has made our job more difficult. He is here today because the level of attacks on the Comptroller and Auditor General has been unprecedented. We are not saying he is right or wrong. Does NAMA normally launch such attacks on people who criticise them?