Results 10,341-10,360 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Thank you. I would like the answer. The Department saw the draft and at that point a question mark arises in its minds as to the expertise or otherwise of the Comptroller and Auditor General's office.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Okay, so it was not so much that you did not support the findings, or perhaps you did not welcome the findings or whatever other way we might put it.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I reason I am zeroing in on this point is because the heart of NAMA's defence in terms of the Comptroller and Auditor General report is to cast doubt on the competence and expertise of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. When we strip everything else away, that is what it comes down to. It strikes me of worthy of examination that it seems the witness shared that view, at...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: That would be helpful.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: The witness is happy to put that on the record.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: With all due respect, it was significant enough in the minds of NAMA to commit it to paper. I will come to a final and related issue.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I can only deal with the documents in front of me, as I am sure Ms Nolan can appreciate. Earlier, an issue was mentioned that has been of some comment. It relates to the appropriate discount rate applied to the portfolio. It is the position of the Department of Finance in this regard that NAMA was right and the Comptroller and Auditor General was wrong. We could get no evidence, bar...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: It was said earlier.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: No, I do not want a broader commentary. This is the discount rate on Project Eagle.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is very interesting. It is quite an assertion for the Department to say NAMA is right and the Comptroller and Auditor General is wrong on this issue. Has Ms Nolan other advice from experts or others relating to Project Eagle that would back that assertion? Is the Department simply going on a matter of opinion?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: On what basis did the Department arrive at that?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: What is the basis?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Did the Department carry out an exercise on the portfolio in question?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: So the Department was not in a position-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Sorry-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: So it was not in a position to be definitive on that matter?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: Ms Nolan was speaking on behalf of the Department of Finance and this is an Oireachtas committee.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am sure the witnesses observed, when they read the report, that there was no evidence documented or any compelling rationale from NAMA's point bar intuition and the fact it is apparently terribly clever. It landed on a higher discount rate than its established 5.5% rate.