Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The witness was not there but could a meeting like that, or information gleaned at it, have had an impact on the bids submitted? It is very strange that the person running the bidding process was not there. Other sales are not quite the same as selling State assets. These are State assets being sold by the Irish State and any loss will be carried by the Irish public. Similarly, on the other side, there are procurement rules. It would be extraordinary if a company was submitting a bid for procuring a State contract - for a private sector company to build a motorway, for example - and the night before the company submits its bid the most senior people in that company met with the Minister for Finance and the head of the procurement agency. It would render the process fatally flawed if that meeting happened within 24 hours of a bid if the State was buying an asset. It seems to have been okay for that to happen when the State was selling an asset. I find that very strange. Is Mr. Long in a position to comment on that? We will also put this question to other people. Does Mr. Long get the parallel I am drawing?