Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute briefly today on the motion tabled by my Independents 4 Change colleague, Deputy Mick Wallace, calling for a commission of investigation into the sale of NAMA's Northern Ireland portfolio, known as Project Eagle. Deputy Mick Wallace and his team have done sterling work in bringing the grave concerns about the sale of Project Eagle to the attention of the House and the wider public. They must be commended on highlighting an issue of such enormous national importance. They have continued to raise it when, as we have seen today, the Government and the main Opposition party cleary have no apetite for an open and transparent discussion.

I was on the Committee of Public Accounts across two Dáileanna over a period of more than eight years. We conducted many value for money and other investigations into important expenditure of public moneys. While I acknowledge that the Comptroller and Auditor General is carrying out an investigation into the sale of Project Eagle, I see no reason that a commission of investigation could not run concurrently to such an investigation. Therefore, I strongly support Deputy Mick Wallace's call for a commission of investigation into the sale of the Northern Ireland portfolio.

Of course, the general operation of NAMA has not been without its detractors in the past seven years or so. The modus operandiand brief given to NAMA by the Minister, Deputy Michael Noonan, and his predecessor the late Mr. Lenihan has been called into question over recent years by many economists and commentators. A few months ago, for example, the economist, David McWilliams, wrote a very strong piece entitled, NAMA's Actions have Enslaved Us. The famous NAMA Wine Lake blogger over a number years has posed the bottom line question of how citizens and the Oireachtas can truly assess NAMA's performance given that we did not know the par value of individual loans, the NAMA acquisition price and the disposal value.

There have been many questions over the operation of NAMA and whether it was too quick to sell off loans that might have returned a far greater profit for the people. The consequence of selling to US vulture funds is now starting to be felt more acutely and has been discussed many times in this House.

A commission of investigation under the 2004 Act introduced by the then Minister, Senator Michael McDowell, would allow for these matters of significant public concern to be investigated. We can all agree that the reported circumstances surrounding the sale of Project Eagle to Cerberus Capital Management have caused great concern and rightly demand further attention and scrutiny.

We have heard today the details we know of the sale of the Northern Ireland loan book, comprising 850 properties and the sale to Cerberus for just over £1 billion or €1.3 billion. These assets were bought for €2 billion originally and were thus sold on for an even greater discount. This sale, of course, followed the open auction, which was apparently the second attempt to dispose of this portfolio which was originally opened to nine bidders and subsequently reduced to three and then two. It has led to the investigations by our Northern Ireland colleagues in the Assembly's finance committee and the PSNI. I presume that the under-bidders, Fortress and PIMCO, hope due diligence will be carried out by this House and the Irish Government.

I noted the very strong speech by the Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson. His key point was that the NAMA decision to proceed with Project Eagle sale was made in Dublin and, therefore, this House has responsibility for the transaction.

See this speech in context