Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Mr. McGuinness mentioned the qualifications of Dara O'Hagan and I accept that entirely. I might add that I am not going down the same lines as one of Mr. McGuinness's colleagues in Northern Ireland where the question-and-answer session was not really a question-and-answer session but political point scoring. I am far more interested in the breakdown in communication and the fact that between the personnel that both he and Mr. Robinson employ, there seemed to be a lack of recognition that notwithstanding what Mr. McGuinness said, this was an important document.

Mr. McGuinness said something interesting. He said that it was not something that was important enough to be brought to his attention. He said throughout that it was not brought to his attention. What Mr. McGuinness is effectively suggesting now - perhaps he suggested it previously but not in my presence - is that Dara O'Hagan made a decision that the document, although quite significant, was not important enough to be brought to Mr. McGuinness's attention and that, at the same time, there was a discussion going on in Peter Robinson's office and elsewhere within the DUP effectively to exclude Mr. McGuinness from any discussion of the process, thereby putting Mr. McGuinness in what I would conclude was a very difficult position in the context of the information flow between NAMA, the Department of Finance and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Would that be a fair assessment?