Results 6,101-6,120 of 21,440 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Over the course of four years you have investigated five allegations of impropriety which have resulted in four referrals to An Garda Síochána. That is the net point.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will you or Mr. McDonagh say something about Mr. John Fraher? This case was a cause of some public comment earlier this year, I understand.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am sure you can agree that the complaint was of a most serious nature.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am raising it with you for two purposes, the first being that, whatever about the particulars of the turn of events that we are discussing here, it is not the first time that a complaint has been made in respect of NAMA’s handling of personal information, of business data. The second is that while I understand the pride you take in your organisation, which is very worthy, you are...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We differ radically on this point.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: As long as issues of that nature are not up for scrutiny by people such as us, then there is an obvious and fundamental issue of accountability. It is NAMA's bread and butter - what it does on a day-to-day basis - and we will have to agree to differ on that point. The agency has a very high level of staff turnover. At a previous meeting, we discussed what constitutes an appropriate...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is very informative. However, I must ask the question again. What, if any, contacts have there been between former employees and NAMA or NAMA developers with regard to the acquisition of NAMA properties?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not asking-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Okay, let us move it along then.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Absolutely.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Okay. Taking all of that into account, will Mr. McDonagh answer my question? To his knowledge, how many such contacts have taken place?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: How many and what is the frequency involved?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does Mr. McDonagh see a problem with that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: So it is not problematic for Mr. McDonagh that someone could work for NAMA, leave and take up employment in a different capacity with another firm and then be involved in contacts with NAMA-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Well that is the matter about which I asked Mr. McDonagh.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. McDonagh would not regard the insider knowledge-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. McDonagh might not view people leaving NAMA, not serving proper cooling off periods, going to work for wealth funds or whatever and then, by some other means, being involved with going back to NAMA and acquiring properties as being problematic. However, in terms of the credibility and standing of the organisation, I strongly suggest to him it is a problem for members of the public and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: I challenge Mr. McDonagh to vox pop on the streets of this town and suggest that as a proposition to anybody with an ounce of cop-on, and I will wager that the average intelligent person will have a problem with that. It raises a problem. In addition to NAMA being out of reach in terms of democratic oversight, as Mr. Daly has set out, for reasons of commercial sensitivity, there is the high...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We have, but that is not the issue. That is a misrepresentation of what was proposed.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
NAMA - Annual Report and Financial Statements 2012 (20 Dec 2013)

Mary Lou McDonald: We differ on this. NAMA has a fairly high level of staff turnover. That is life. Staff are entitled to move jobs and to move their lives along. I do not think anybody with an ounce of wit or cop-on could understand or justify a situation where a person who works for NAMA leaves and, with no cooling-off period, overnight can be employed and, potentially, have contacts with NAMA.