Results 2,001-2,020 of 32,837 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I ask Mr. Daly to let me finish and put this into perspective. On 3 April, when this came to NAMA's attention, it should have been shocking news. That very night there were all sorts of e-mails being sent right up until 11.30 p.m. between Mr. Daly and Mr. Collison, I think, about arranging a phone call with Peter Robinson. Is that right? This was with a view to making arrangements with...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Daly was not, but somebody was communicating with NAMA to ask whether it would be all right to release Mr. Robinson's number so that a phone call could take place.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: That all happened on the same day. That was later that day. This is a major issue during the day. Now I hear from Mr. McDonagh that Ronnie Hanna was in communication with Cerberus.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Confirmation of a specific piece of information rather than asking questions. It seems to me that at the very least questions should have been asked of Cerberus, such as when it took these people on, what it was getting out of it, what was happening here, and what fee was being paid. That is what I think. The witnesses can comment on that and I will listen.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I accept that but unfortunately the Comptroller and Auditor General says NAMA should have followed up. He sets out five specific points on page 95 about what NAMA should have done. I imagine if the witnesses re-read them, they could not but agree with him. They are the concerns about following up and potential conflict of interest. I do not think the Chairman will let me go through all...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Certainly.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: If Mr. Daly reads the first point: "Mr Cushnahan’s declared involvement with NAMA debtors whose loans represented at least half-----"

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Daly can read that. He goes on to say:NAMA should have formally considered whether Mr Cushnahan's engagement in discussion of its Northern Ireland strategy – including the PIMCO/Brown Rudnick approach – was consistent with his ongoing involvement as financial advisor to a significant proportion of the Northern Ireland debtor connections. Would Mr. Daly accept that?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: That is all right. We do not want repetition but Mr. Daly does not accept that conclusion.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: For the record, is Mr. Daly not accepting that conclusion? Yes or no?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I would have hoped Mr. Daly would have gone through each one and told me.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: I have been waiting for the witnesses to address the conclusions. Does Mr. Daly accept the conclusion at 5.32 and presumably he is saying no?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: No. Repeatedly, and I have said this before, the witnesses have come in with statements of 11 pages. Mr. McDonagh in particular goes through the financial stuff. The Comptroller and Auditor General has clarified the issues he addressed. The witnesses do not deal with the conflict of interest or the sales process and that has been a pattern. When Mr. Daly says to me the witnesses have...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: It is not a question of my agreeing with it. It is a question of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. This is not an inquiry. It is a report. NAMA said this was totally wrong, that nobody with commercial experience would have made such a decision and so on. I have repeatedly tried to bring the witnesses back to the concerns raised in the report.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: That is correct.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Given everything that has happened and everything that has come out, would Mr. Daly have concerns now even in retrospect about Brown Rudnick's involvement?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Even knowing what is known now, that it left PIMCO and the very next day went to Brown Rudnick?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: That is right. The others moved.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (24 Nov 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Clients move from solicitors all the time. That is correct. In this situation PIMCO withdrew under a cloud. There is a disagreement between NAMA and PIMCO as to the nature of that, although the record is quite clear, I think, that PIMCO sets out that it brought it to NAMA's attention. There is a different context here of a solicitor moving on, from the bidder that withdraws under a cloud...