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

For the purposes of clarity for the general public, let us set out what happened. Lazard secured this gig with no tender, which was strange. Lazard received a verbal briefing from Ronnie Hanna in which it was told about political sensitivities and so on. It had no role in valuation. It did not control the data room: that fell to NAMA. The whole process then became very complicated and compromised to the extent that there was legal concerns around the key bidder, about which Lazard is not informed, and that bidder exits. I put it to Mr. Long that all of this represents a very bad day out for the reputation of Lazard. I think it was kept in the dark and that it was aware that it was kept in the dark yet that does not seem to be a matter of angst or concern to Mr. Long or maybe it is the case that he is not prepared to put anything critical on the record here, which I find astonishing.