Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have two questions. It was a surprise to most of us to discover that these notes had not been kept. We had seen other detailed contemporaneous notes of lower level or business meetings. I would understand this in a private company, which does not need to keep as many official records and can do what it likes, but I presumed that State bodies had to keep notes of significant board discussions. Most people have been surprised that these ones have not been retained. If Mr. Daly is saying that this is the general practice, this committee will take up the matter.

Each time that the witnesses appeared before us in the past month or so, they referred specifically to their board discussions about the famous 10%. It was that continual reference that led us to ask them to help us by giving us a copy of the notes, seeing as how the information was not contained in the documents given to the board or in the board's own minutes. That the notes are not available has put NAMA at a disadvantage. We are not doubting the witnesses' word, but it would have made life easier for them earlier than this had the notes been retained. Mr. Daly gets my point.