Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McDonagh for that. The committee has always acknowledged that the National Asset Management Agency Act was not necessarily breached, but we had indicated we believe NAMA should have done more to investigate the connections between companies managing assets on its behalf and the companies seeking to purchase NAMA loan portfolios. Mr. McDonagh will recall that was a matter of serious concern. We stated we believed the circumstances that existed to allow this to occur represented a failure of due diligence. The response to our report indicated simply that what had happened with the terms of Project Nantes loans was not a contravention of section 172(3) of the Act and so on. We had premised our report by acknowledging that this was not illegal but that measures needed to be put in place.

NAMA may be wound up and we do not know what will happen in the future. If it is wound up, will it carry out, as part of the wind-up process, an appraisal of some of the practices from which lessons may have been learned to advise governments in respect of future policies? Should that issue form part of any such proposals to the Government?