Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is clear that the Minister is unwilling to accept the findings of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor, which in itself is a major issue in terms of the constitutional nature of the office. Even if the Minister does not accept the report and just says there are discrepancies, in the light of these discrepancies and their severity, the fact that the Comptroller and Auditor General believes there was a potential loss of €220 million, the fact that issues concerning a conflict of interest were reported to NAMA and not followed up and the fact that many other issues are raised in the report, there is an obligation on the Minister to act. He is the only person with the authority to say to NAMA "listen folks, pause. There is a serious issue here. The Comptroller and Auditor General is saying you lost the Irish taxpayer €220 million. You cannot proceed with the sale of a €3 billion asset that is owned by the Irish people. We have to clear this up." The Minister needs to use his discretionary powers. On 15 April 2014, within days of NAMA deciding to sell Project Eagle to Cerberus, I asked about the number of bidders and the process involved, but the Minister stonewalled me in the answer he gave to the House. He knew at the time about fixer's fees and that Pimco had had to pull out. He must now step up to the plate. His actions in the past two years in dealing with this issue do not warrant glory, but he now needs to do the right thing. He needs to suspend the sale of Project Gem in the interests of the taxpayer who could lose more money if the inappropriate form of evaluation used by NAMA in the case of Project Eagle is used in the case of Project Gem.

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