Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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We will be here for a while. There is a pathway from the meeting to which I referred to the sale of Project Eagle, over which there are many question marks.

Regarding section 10 of the NAMA Act, the sale of assets and the legal requirement that NAMA get best value, would it not be fair to say that the Northern Ireland portfolio was no normal group of properties? For many reasons and sensitivities concerning Northern Ireland, NAMA had a different way of thinking. The Comptroller and Auditor General referenced this regarding a number of these issues, but not all. Would it not be fair to say that, due to a combination of political pressure - unlike us in the South, Northern politicians are not prohibited from applying political pressure - diplomacy stemming from the peace process and so on, the significant business risk in the sale of these assets and, as has been documented in many places, the declining debtor engagement, NAMA's judgment in achieving the greatest value under section 10 became cloudy? I am not saying that this is necessarily what materialised but, given these four extraordinary and complicating factors, some would be forgiven for thinking that the belief was that this was a worthwhile way of getting out of Northern Ireland. The Comptroller and Auditor General referred to a number of these factors. Maybe the cost to us was £190 million, but there were many different reasons compared with selling assets in Britain or elsewhere.