Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week we discussed the terms of reference for an inquiry into the State’s alleged preferential treatment of private sector investors in general and our good friend Mr. Denis O’Brien, in particular.

That someone as rich and powerful as Denis O'Brien, who has unfettered control of much of the mainstream media, might get preferential treatment is not much of a shock to many. I do not think he is the only powerful individual or consortium who may have got favourable treatment from State-owned institutions. When NAMA was set up, the plan was that it would not flood the market with stressed assets. This was a special purpose vehicle that would await some form of recovery before maximising the assets in the interests of the taxpayer. That is not what has happened. For some strange reason, NAMA has been in a hurry to fire sale assets for less than their real value despite the fact it is a rising market. We see many of these assets being sold on at massive profits. I named a few of them in here last week. It is frightening how quickly these vulture funds have turned them over and the extent of the profits involved. This means that foreign vulture funds have won and the Irish people are losing out.

Something is the matter with how NAMA has operated. Before the Taoiseach was elected to office, he said that NAMA was a secret society that needed an injection of competence, openness and transparency. He was dead right but everything stayed the same. It did not change. Sadly, the drip-feed of questionable deals has begun. If the Taoiseach does not address this now, it may come back to haunt him in years to come because I believe serious issues are at stake. Will the Taoiseach wait for this to reach a crescendo before he acts or is he prepared to commission an independent inquiry into how NAMA has worked and check whether the people got the maximum return in respect of how the assets were sold by this organisation?

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