David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Okay. I will read a passage from it that might be of interest to Mr. Mulcahy because I think it sheds some light on why and how the deal was conceived. It stated:

In April 2013, PIMCO was approached by Mr. Tuvi Keinan, a partner at the law firm Brown Rudnick who then introduced PIMCO to Mr. Ian Coulter of Tughans and Mr. Frank Cushnahan, with whom Brown Rudnick appeared to be working to identify potential purchasers for the NAMA Northern Irish loan portfolio (which later became known as Project Eagle). As we understood it, PIMCO was one of three firms who were approached at the time by these three parties.

This was in April 2013. The first discussions Mr. Mulcahy would have had as a board member was when PIMCO approached the NAMA board. Brown Rudnick, Ian Coulter of Tughans and Mr. Frank Cushnahan were approached by PIMCO well before PIMCO made any approach to NAMA. The parties "appeared to be working to identify potential purchasers for the NAMA Northern Irish loan portfolio (which later became known as Project Eagle)". The genesis of it was that the parties who made up that trio saw an opportunity and approached PIMCO. It was not PIMCO that saw the opportunity. Would Mr. Mulcahy agree?