David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For the record of the committee it was Cerberus and Fortress. Fortress sent us correspondence. I do not know if we can get Fortress's letter up on the screen. It was a serious bidder. We are told by NAMA that its presence was justification that the process was competitive. So it was a serious bidder. On its rationale for making a bid below the reserve price, it talks about the reasons it came in under the price. One of the reasons is that the bid process required an unconditional bid which could not be syndicated or finance pre-bid.

If the opportunity to syndicate or to finance pre-bid was there, and this is what Fortress was telling us, it is possible it could have put in a higher bid. These are serious players. So when the Comptroller and Auditor General stated in his report that there were restrictions in terms of the sales process that could potentially have had an impact on the sales price, given that what Fortress has stated, does the witness see it as a potential problem and a fair question to be asked?