Mr. Frank Daly:

I respect the ruling of the Vice Chairman but, leaving names aside, I cannot let Deputy McDonald's reference to a corrupted process stay on the record. This loan sale - I have said this before at the Committee of Public Accounts, but I need to say it again - was well managed. It was competitive and conducted in line with best international practice, independently overseen by Lazard, a major international investment bank. Nine major global investment companies were engaged. The integrity of the sales process was fully protected. No external members of the Northern Ireland advisory committee - because this is what always comes back to - had access to confidential information on this sale, but all of the bidders had equal access to the information. No third parties-----