Results 5,761-5,780 of 26,408 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: My party cannot be accused of that. There is an important point to be made as well that should not be lost on us in this response where it says that when this project was conceived - we now know it was not conceived by PIMCO and it was conceived by all these players, that is, Mr. Coulter, Tughans, Mr. Frank Cushnahan and Brown Rudnick - it was not specifically in relation to PIMCO and that...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Mr. Stewart, Mr. Soffe.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: As a follow up to that, I ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to also clarify what he means by "lower costs of capital".

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: What is meant by lower costs of capital?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: That is the point about NAMA's holding onto the assets. It had an advantage over a potential purchaser who would have had a higher rate of capital.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I was looking to come in on the wider issues but I will wait.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: We need clarity now on some issues. I will not go over old ground because we want to try to reach some conclusions. When NAMA first attended the committee, it was very strong in its criticism of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the discount rate and his understanding of market values and so on. That softened the last time board members were before the committee, and there...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: It is from 6 November 2013. It was sent from NAMA to the Department of Finance.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: It is 229/2013. The secretariat gave me a copy of it earlier. Is the Comptroller and Auditor General aware of that document?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: What is interesting about this is that this was in November 2013. It talks about 70% of the North of Ireland's portfolio being completed property and income-producing; that NAMA has approved €140 million in new money advances; a small number of cases had to be enforced in the North; that the agency's enforcement was proportionate to the scale of its exposure in the North and was not...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: The Chairman is missing the point completely.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: We will ask that. My point is that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report talks about the potential loss of €190 million. That is based on the fact that, in his view, it had worked out the assets.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: NAMA's only reference to a 10% discount rate was in those annual accounts in 2013 and 2014. It was generic.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I welcome the witnesses. I found some of Ms Nolan's responses extraordinary. I will refer to the last time she was here and what she said. I am trying to get clarity. There has been a sleight of hand regarding the perception that NAMA was portraying regarding the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and his analysis of the change in sales strategy and the discount rates applied. NAMA...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Exactly. We have absolute clarity that there was never any discussion between the Department of Finance and the Comptroller and Auditor General's office about the discount rate. It never took place.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Exactly. However, we have evidence that NAMA gave us in which it referenced discussions between the Department of Finance and the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding the discount rate. We will go back and correct that with NAMA that it never happened.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: It was discussions between the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Department.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: It did, and I will come to it later.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Yes, and it said some other things. I am trying to avoid NAMA trying to divide and conquer the Department and the Comptroller and Auditor General to justify its analysis of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, which was either a misunderstanding or a distortion of what the report stated. I will get to it, given that it follows logically from the next question. Ms Nolan said:There...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (10 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I am very conscious of the clock. The question is about the probable loss. Ms Nolan said she had a difficulty with it given that it is not a loss that someone is willing to pay. This is not something the Comptroller and Auditor General would disagree with and he does not argue against it. I am trying to get Ms Nolan to accept that the probable loss of the €190 million is in...