Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I am advised that the loan sale was executed in a proper manner. There has been much confusion and conflation in the coverage of this matter. Much of the commentary has come in detail from various sources within Northern Ireland. My understanding is that there is an ongoing examination of a wide variety of statements and allegations made by different individuals in the North by a committee at Stormont. The second point is that the loan portfolio was sold for €1.5 billion because that is what the properties securing the loans were worth. In this regard, one has a constant comparison of pre-crash values with post-crash sales. I believe Deputy Adams has told Members previously that he owns a residential house, as well as a holiday home, and I do not know whether he has another house in the Republic. However, I would argue strongly that before the crash, quite a lot of houses rose to heights of being worth approximately half a million euro, certainly in the Dublin area. I do not know whether the Deputy has a house there.

See this speech in context