Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is fine. I did not imagine that Mr. Daly would.

The second contention in Mr. Daly's presentation today is that the loan sales process was well-managed and competitive. That is what Mr. Daly said in July and he has reiterated it here today. Let us just explore the matter. I will keep an eye on the clock, Cathaoirleach.

The well managed competitive process involved the first preferred bidder, PIMCO, with Mr. Cushnahan in tow, being excluded from the process because PIMCO came forward, let us give it credit for it, to blow the whistle and to tell NAMA that there was funny business going on and there were requests for "payola", to use that term. PIMCO say that and get excluded from the process.

We then move on. Cerberus, who finally succeeded in this regard, has surprise, surprise, the same cast of characters around it - Brown Rudnick, Tughans, etc. - advising it. At the tail end of this, which is where the criminal piece impinges on this discussion, there is money resting in an Isle of Man account that found its way through Tughans. All of threads sort of come together.

Let us take it from the point at which NAMA decided. It came to Mr. Daly's attention that there were difficulties with PIMCO, not least because of Mr. Cushnahan said they need to be excluded. Mr. Daly communicated that to the Minister. Mr. Daly has told us that he took the view that NAMA should motor on and the Minister agreed. That was a crazy decision but none the less it is the decision that Mr. Daly took. Mr Daly said thereafter that there was what he called a "competitive tension" that remained in the process. Mr. Daly is going to have to help us with identifying where this competitive tension resided because there were two players left on the field. Is that so?