Results 881-900 of 32,832 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) (18 Oct 2016)

Catherine Connolly: Yes. I have it in front of me.

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)

Catherine Connolly: Thanks.

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)

Catherine Connolly: I am actually married to a Brian McEnery.

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)

Catherine Connolly: He was never a director of elections for any Fine Gael candidate, however. I think I am still married to him. A lot of press releases and documents have been made available to us but we have not yet got to page 158 of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is an extraordinary situation because the Comptroller and Auditor General has made no allegations and I agree with...

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)

Catherine Connolly: Great.

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)

Catherine Connolly: Unusually for the Committee of Public Accounts, we have invited in not only the chairperson and chief executive officer but also each member to give them a chance to speak. The board made the decisions and it speaks with one voice so we are giving the witnesses additional time. They have given us a ten-page reply and used those ten pages to be pejorative, to be overly defensive and not 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)

Catherine Connolly: The Chair gave me extra time. I thank him very much.

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)

Catherine Connolly: Let us deal with the issues relating to the conflict of interest. It was said that the allegations regarding Mr. Cushnahan's involvement in an arrangement to share fees with Brown Rudnick and Tughans warranted more action by NAMA when the matter came to light. That is a statement from the Comptroller and Auditor General. He went on to say that the matter warranted more action, such as...

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)

Catherine Connolly: I accept that. Mr. Soffe is giving the exact same answer as Mr. Daly, and he is standing by that again today. The Comptroller and Auditor General said - in my opinion, gently - that NAMA should have done more and Mr. Soffe has again said "No" today. I will not waste any more time on the issue. Mr. Soffe has said "No". In my opinion, that is wrong. At the very least NAMA should have...

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)

Catherine Connolly: Good. That is great. There were three bidders and only one was interested. Is that correct?

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)

Catherine Connolly: I have no difficulty with any of that. We are talking about a process and the Comptroller and Auditor General has identified issues or concerns in respect of it. That is the position. There is nothing else. It would have been great if NAMA came back and dealt with those issues rather than going to the newspapers or preparing a ten-page opening statement containing pejorative comments. It...

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)

Catherine Connolly: Nine companies were never invited to bid. Initially, there were three bidders.

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)

Catherine Connolly: When the witnesses come to the Committee of Public Accounts and talk about nine bidders, if they are standing over the process about which the Comptroller and Auditor General has concerns, there is a duty on them to come back and say this is the process. They did not. Mr. Ellingham came in today and referred to nine bidders once again, as did the other NAMA witnesses.

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)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Soffe can keep repeating that. I am highlighting what I have read. The Comptroller and Auditor and General had concerns about the process. The witnesses have not reassured me about those concerns. Let me deal with one or two other little matters. On disclosure, I understand from Mr. Rowntree last week that Mr. Cushnahan never left the room in any of the meetings that he attended....

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)

Catherine Connolly: Okay, so that is Mr. Soffe's explanation. I understand that. He represented seven of the major debtors, six plus in partnership with someone else regarding the seventh. That represented 50% of the property or the loan portfolio. Is that not correct?

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)

Catherine Connolly: Yes, Mr. Soffe said that. Mr. Rowntree has a slightly different view. Actually, to be precise, he backs Mr. Soffe up on that but not in respect of another matter in Ulster to which I will return. Mr. Cushnahan was representing 50% of the loan debtors. Is that correct?

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)

Catherine Connolly: Is it the case that a conflict of interest was never declared?

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)

Catherine Connolly: Mr. Soffe has made that point clearly and he has stuck to that. With regard to the University of Ulster research, Mr. Rowntree was very clear that it was a high-level piece of research - that has been confirmed by the witnesses today - and there were many presentations. He said that was potentially confidential information that somebody could make use of. I am summarising what he said....

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)

Catherine Connolly: I understand that. I have been involved with local authorities for 17 years.

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)

Catherine Connolly: I heard Mr. Soffe say that. I am asking him a question.