Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. The Minister of State, Deputy Eoghan Murphy referred to the National Asset Management Agency Act. NAMA was set up by the Fianna Fáil-led government in 2009 and was part of the troika bailout. Deputy Burke alluded to the word "expeditious" which was mentioned on numerous occasions in the Act. It is my personal view that haste was put before prudence. This affected NAMA and the sales process, which the report found was seriously deficient. I also have a reservation regarding the report's findings on the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan.

On the significant lack of competence or clarity, as well as information about NAMA's handling of the Project Eagle, there were three issues. One was the portfolio's valuation where there were no discussions or records of discussions about the sale, as Deputy Burke said. There were no formal valuations of property collateral and no formal expert advice was received. The second issue relates to the conflict of interest issues. No actions were taken to deal with success fee arrangements and if there were arrangements, they were unsatisfactory. There was no considered approach to the method of sale and haste appears to have been put before prudence. The third issue relates competition, or lack thereof, in the sales process. There was no adherence whatsoever to standard NAMA sales processes. There was also no openness, or at least there was a lack of openness, in the bidding process.

I appreciate that criminal investigations are ongoing and I will not comment on those. The main aspect of the report that I cannot endorse relates to the report's findings on the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the political manoeuvres in relation to the committee and his position on this matter. At the Committee of Public Accounts, the appropriateness of the Minister meeting with Cerberus - the eventual successful bidder - was not raised at any stage. The Minister spent many hours before the committee giving evidence and not once was he given an opportunity to deal with the assertion that the meeting was procedurally inappropriate. We must be very clear in the House that there is a legal separation between the Minister and NAMA. NAMA's commercial decisions are taken independently of the Minister for Finance. That appears to have been forgotten by many members of the Committee of Public Accounts. As someone who has put a huge amount of work and effort into Project Eagle and the flaws there - the Acting Chairman will concede that - I was dismayed by any sort of allegation of wrongdoing or even a hint of it with regard to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan. I would not be able to stand over a report that endorses that point.

We must also remember that the meeting the Minister had with Cerebrus was already in the public domain and was the subject of a freedom of information request in November 2015. It is a pity. It is a last ditch attempt to bring party politics into the report.

See this speech in context