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

I will be brief. The witnesses stated there was not an option to work out the loans together with the supporting for the discount rate. This is where the issue is confused. All the back-up work done in respect of NAMA's formal strategy and the information in Appendix C, which was produced to the board on 12 December 2013, indicate that the work-out period was to 2020 and this is in line with NAMA's formal strategy. That is obviously from where the Comptroller and Auditor General is getting that. There is no documentation from NAMA to indicate otherwise.

In terms of the cashflows that are brought out, the sensitivity analysis referred to in Appendix C, which is reproduced on page 144 of the Comptroller and Auditor Generals' report, uses a discount rate of 2.5%, which is obviously lower than 5.5%. One must accept that someone could have difficulty justifying a 10% discount rate given that none of the sensitivity analyses produced a discount rate of more than 5.5%. Would the witnesses like to comment on the justification for the discount rate applied?