Mr. Lar Bradshaw:

The minutes state: "In relation to the book valuation of some €250m which had been included..." This means that somebody on the board said, correctly, "Hang on - in our board pack is the submission that we made on the 12th, and the number it refers to is lower than what we are talking about." That is exactly your point. A discussion obviously took place, because the minutes say that it was noted that this figure, the €250 million, was based on a lower plot ratio than we were then contemplating, which was going to lead to a higher bid price, and second - more importantly - it was on the basis that we were now talking about procuring only a 26% share rather than a 49% share. The significance of both of those statements is that the exposure for the authority was not going to change because, as everybody around this table will know, 26% of the big number - €400 million - is more or less the same as 49% of €220 million.

I absolutely am going to suggest that when the committee brings in all the board members and the executive, it will be able to clarify this matter. However, what I think happened is that somebody said that we had sent a letter to the Department - by the way, Ms Mary Moylan was sitting at the table, which I shall come back to in a moment - and asked whether there was a danger that somebody could be misled. The discussion ensued with Ms Mary Moylan at the table and she was comfortable that she did not need to go back because the approval that we needed from the Minister was an approval that constrained or limited, if you like, our exposure. Our exposure would not have changed if we were purchasing 26% of something that cost €375 million - in fact, it would be less - instead of 49% of something that cost €220 million. I apologise for the numbers, but this is the real world.