Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will make the point at the beginning. We will put them on notice that due to the short notice if we do not get finished today it is not our responsibility. We will move on then. We will commence the main business shortly.

The first item of correspondence is 189B (i) to (iv), from Niamh O'Donoghue, Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection, providing follow-up information to the committee from our meeting in October. Is that noted, agreed and published? Agreed.

The next item is 190B, correspondence from Mr. Mark Curran, in the Garda Commissioner's office responding to a query from the committee in relation to our hearings on NAMA's sale of Project Eagle. I just wanted to have the letter. Essentially, we wrote to the Garda Commissioner to find out if there was any issue in relation to inviting any particular witnesses. He concluded by saying it was appreciated that the committee had very real concerns that an appearance before the Committee of Public Accounts may prejudice ongoing criminal investigations in other jurisdictions. In that regard, any public questioning of an individual about matters which may form part of a criminal investigation in any jurisdiction has the potential to interfere with that investigation and subsequent due process. I am just putting that on record. We are noting the letter.

The next item of correspondence is 192B. It is correspondence from Mr. Ronnie Hanna declining an invitation to attend, principally because of concerns regarding the ongoing investigation. Essentially, he made two remarks - one is he has a duty of confidentiality still to NAMA which he has not been released from and, second, because of the investigation by the NCA-PSNI he believes, respectfully - he means no discourtesy to this committee, he is refusing to attend. We will note that.

The next item is a letter from Mr. David Meissels, managing director at Fortress Investment group, declining an invitation to appear before the committee Essentially, he said his company was the unsuccessful bidder and investigations are ongoing on Project Eagle. He previously submitted written responses in detail and he, respectfully, declines the invitation to send a representative to the public meeting. We will note that as well and publish it.

Then we have correspondence from Peter Robinson. He said that he understands the constitutional reasons he is not answerable to the Committee of Public Accounts and it is complicated by the fact that the NCA inquiry in Northern Ireland is ongoing. He gave evidence to the Northern Ireland committee. He recognises there are some similarities between our remit and that of the committee in Northern Ireland and he attaches a copy of the statement he made to that committee. He said that if we want his views on any specific issue we can write to the e-mail address given and he will be happy to provide a response. I take that to mean in writing.

We will publish his statement, even though it is already published in Northern Ireland. Much of the statement he made to the Northern Ireland committee flatly contradicts the evidence of Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, who said he was not in the loop. We will adjudicate on that but we are not adjudicating on it now. Martin McGuinness got the opportunity to give his point of view in public and the letter from Mr. Robinson flatly contradicts a number of the statements made by him. We will have to consider those issues in drafting our report. Neither individual is present now so we will not discuss it.