David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is clear rom the statement by the Minister for Finance today and also comments from Fianna Fáil that we are being primed for a row-back on the commission of investigation into NAMA and Project Eagle. I am a member of the Committee of Public Accounts which is examining the Comptroller and Auditor General's report into the sale of Project Eagle. That was a value for money report. Our terms of reference were very clear. We were not in a position to examine allegations of criminality. We were prevented from doing that. The Government is conflating the two issues. It is hiding behind a committee which is examining a different element of the Project Eagle sale, namely, value for money and the loan sales process. The Government knows full well that the committee was not allowed to deal with the issues that need to be addressed as part of a commission of investigation.

I wish to read into the record of the House a letter that was sent to the Committee of Public Accounts. It was also read into the record of that committee so it is a matter of record. The letter is from Brown Rudnick, which is the international law firm that was working for PIMCO and a number of bidders, including the successful bidder. It states:

In late 2012 Mr. Coulter called Mr. Keinan [Mr. Coulter was Ian Coulter who worked for Tughans, the Belfast law firm, and Mr. Keinan worked for Brown Rudnick] regarding a potential real estate transaction involving NAMA's Northern Ireland loan portfolio. In substance, Mr. Coulter explained that he and Mr. Frank Cushnahan [who at the time was a member of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee of NAMA] had been working for an extended period on a conceptual transaction that would allow NAMA to dispose of its entire Northern Ireland loan portfolio through a single sale. Mr. Coulter explained how such a transaction could benefit Northern Ireland, NAMA, and potential investors, and asked Mr. Keinan to identify and recruit potential institutional clients that might be interested...

In a subsequent meeting on or about November 27, 2012, [when Mr. Cushnahan was still a member of the NIAC] ... Mr. Keinan, Mr. Coulter, and Mr. Cushnahan at Tughans’ Belfast offices, Mr. Cushnahan explained that he held an unpaid voluntary board position ... on the ... NIAC ... but insisted that he had no conflicts of interest in advising on such a transaction. Mr. Coulter told Mr. Keinan that Mr. Keinan was the only person to whom Tughans and Mr. Cushnahan were presenting this proposal ... During that same ... meeting, Mr. Coulter and Mr. Cushnahan proposed that they be compensated by a success fee [which would be £15 million sterling] ... that would be split three ways between Mr. Cushnahan, Tughans and Brown Rudnick.

Long before there was any reverse inquiry made to NAMA by PIMCO, and those individuals were working for PIMCO, they concocted a business deal that would include a fixer's fee or success fee of £15 million sterling that involved a member of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee of NAMA. The letter goes on to state:

On February 14, 2013, Mr. Cushnahan, Mr. Coulter, and Mr. Keinan met with [the] Minister for Finance [Sammy] Wilson to have a preliminary discussion about the feasibility of such a transaction from the perspective of the Northern Irish Executive...

On April 30, 2013, Mr. Coulter, Mr. Cushnahan, and Mr. Keinan met with representatives of PIMCO at PIMCO’s London offices....

On May 22, 2013, Mr. Keinan, Mr. Coulter, Mr. Cushnahan[met with a number of representatives of PIMCO but also with the First Minister, Peter Robinson, and the Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, in the North.]

We had a situation where DUP Ministers met with-----

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