Results 201-220 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: Mr. Soffe said to us before the break there was no political pressure but what was required was a discreet and confidential process. Who said that to Mr. Soffe?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: That goes right back to the heart of what I said. There was no political pressure yet the Minister said he wanted a discreet and confidential process.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: I understand that but it goes back to the heart of what I am saying. We had the Minister for Finance in here saying he had absolutely nothing to do with the process and that he was fully removed from it, but at the same time he was suggesting and advising that he wanted a discreet and confidential process because it was Northern Ireland. Does that not go against the grain of the whole issue...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: Again, he saw that as an opportunity but the Comptroller and Auditor General report refers to the fact that the probable losses were a result of the pursuance of that tactic.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: I know NAMA does.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: In terms of the Minister for Finance's role in this, Mr. Soffe has said that the Minister sought a discreet and confidential process. Mr. Soffe said that, "given the recent history of this island, it would have been unthinkable for NAMA to have ignored the impact of its actions on the Northern Ireland economy and on North-South relations". It comes back to the issue of motivation. Did that...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: There is if the Minister for Finance is seeking to have this wrapped up and it results in a probable loss to the State. That is ultimately what happened here.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: I find it unbelievable that the Minister of Finance - the person who advised a discreet and confidential process - was giving no end of advice to people on how to proceed and yet he is saying he had no role in this commercial deal. When he attended the committee, I asked him a straight question whether he believed there was a good deal or not and he said he would not comment. He was...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: And Europe because he kept referring to the ECB and the troika.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: So Mr. Ellingham got no sense that the Minister was under an extreme amount of pressure from Europe and was passing it on to NAMA to do this?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: None whatsoever.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: I think it was at the forefront of his mind, given his comments to the Comptroller and Auditor General the last day.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: No one is disputing that. We are just trying to ascertain the process that was followed which led to the ultimate price achieved. Politicians above all people do not need a history lesson on how the State was funded.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: Certainly, but the question that we are trying to address is: at what cost? Was there a cost? That is the whole point of the interaction between us all today.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: That is the point Mr. Soffe was making. To go back to rationale for the application of a 10% discount, Mr. Soffe drew attention to the financial statement of 2013 which, as the Chairman clarified, was signed in May of 2014. Are the witnesses able to categorically state that there is sound documentary evidence, in real time rather than post-dated, from the board where the considerations to...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: All I asked for were the accounts of where that was thrashed out. Mr. McEnery has just simply referred to the -----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: -----financial statement of 2013.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: The Comptroller and Auditor General has said that the lack of documentary evidence on the process is not helpful, in terms of actually allowing people -----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: Given the sensitivity of what was being handled, it would have been important to make sure that there was an accurate recording, especially given that in its financial statement, NAMA pointed out that it would allow itself some wriggle room to change the discount in order to move a deal on. There should have been proper minute-taking in respect of a decision of this magnitude.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (18 Oct 2016)

Shane Cassells: Deputy Alan Kelly asked earlier about a timeframe for producing some of that documentation. I am not sure that was fully answered.