Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Does Mr. Soffe think I am making a big deal out of nothing? Is that the case? In that regard, I direct him to the board's minutes of 11 March which are recorded on page 116 and 117 of the report. It is at this stage that the head of asset recovery, Ronnie Hanna, tells the board about the conversation with PIMCO. It is fascinating to note the following statement on page 117:

Following discussion the board agreed that there was no specific issue in relation to PIMCO's success fee payments to Brown Rudnick Solicitors (London). The Board noted that, in light of the co-location of offices between Frank Cushnahan and Tughans Solicitors (Belfast), there were some reservations in respect to a success fee payment to the latter.

This is not the work of my genius mind because, in fact, it had occurred to the board that there was a problem and it recognised the relationship or proximity, let us say, between Mr. Cushnahan and Tughans. Those are NAMA's minutes, are they not? In that case, what point was Mr. Soffe making to me?

The minutes go on to state: "In light of Frank Cushnahan's involvement in the PIMCO bid, the Board discussed whether PIMCO's bid, at this stage, was fatally flawed [which is fair enough] given the potential perception that PIMCO might have benefitted from insider information as a result of Frank Cushnahan's involvement". The board was recognising that there was a relationship with Tughans and, more than this, that there was an issue about information that Frank Cushnahan might have had and its effect on the bid.