Mr. Frank Daly:

The Minister did not put any pressure on us. We are an independent board. If one looks back over the year at NAMA and the evolution of the strategy in NAMA, one notes it has always been our strategy to avail of every opportunity to reduce the debt. Reducing the debt means putting assets on the market. The Minister quite correctly used to come to our strategy day every year and he gave us an overall view on Ireland's debt, the markets and the troika. It seemed to us, as members of a board, that NAMA's contribution to Ireland getting out of the mess it was in would be to get rid of the debt of €30 billion, but it was our decision. We did not need anyone to direct us, and nobody did. That is a conclusion we came to as professionals on the board and in the organisation.