Results 22,621-22,640 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming

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)

Seán Fleming: To tell him about PIMCO.

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)

Seán Fleming: The deal was closed. It had been accepted.

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)

Seán Fleming: That is what I am getting at.

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)

Seán Fleming: It received reassurance from Cerberus only on the day the final bill was accepted, 2 May. It had to be around that time.

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)

Seán Fleming: The Department was not in touch with it in the meantime.

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)

Seán Fleming: I have a few questions. In Ms Nolan's letter to Mr. Harkness, she said she was surprised that the Comptroller and Auditor General did not engage directly with board members as part of this special report. I think I have asked this question previously. In all the years of Ms Nolan's extensive experience, when has the Comptroller and Auditor General ever engaged with the full board of any...

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)

Seán Fleming: I have put this question to NAMA officials and I will put it to Ms Nolan because she referred to it in her letter. I am sure she met the chief executive officer and the chairman. Did she feel that they were not competent enough to portray the views of NAMA and that it was necessary for her to suggest the need to meet the other board members?

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)

Seán Fleming: On the second page of the letter, Ms Nolan states, "You have also outlined in the report's summary that the NAMA did not seek formal external advice on the sale strategy". Did NAMA receive such advice?

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)

Seán Fleming: Is it is a little unusual - given that NAMA has all the expertise and its officials are in charge of making all the decisions - that they did not seek external advice? There is a criticism that the Comptroller and Auditor General had not sought external assistance?

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)

Seán Fleming: But this was one the agency's biggest transactions to date and its first major loan sale. I make that point but Ms Nolan need not respond.

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)

Seán Fleming: I understand that. The question of additional advice for the Comptroller and Auditor General's office came up but it was in connection with the section 226 report.

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)

Seán Fleming: We are all clear on that. Ms Nolan said before the break that she does not agree with the terms "probable loss".

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)

Seán Fleming: The only reason I raise this is because Ms Nolan brought the topic up in a letter. The next paragraph refers to the setting of the minimum price section of the summary. She states, "The decision to sell the loans at £1.3 billion involved a significant potential loss". She referred to this point and that is the reason I am bringing it up. If it had only achieved £330 million,...

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)

Seán Fleming: Given that Ms Nolan brought up this issue and that she is not happy with the term "probable loss", in respect of what figure would it be appropriate to use the term? She is not happy with £1.3 billion because she says that does not prove a probable loss but she would accept a probable loss at a much lower figure.

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)

Seán Fleming: There are many other issues in the report and I will not go through them all. Deputy Connolly referred to an issue. There are conflicting views and Ms Nolan may not want to give a view but she represents the parent Department. Earlier Ms Nolan used the word "fine" to describe the report. That is not a strong endorsement of it. If I were to ask her how did she do and she were to answer, "I...

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)

Seán Fleming: Is there any paragraph in the report with which Ms Nolan disagrees?

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)

Seán Fleming: When we talk about the figure of €1.3 billion and the reference in the letter to the significant potential loss which changed to probable loss, Ms Nolan essentially moves on in the paragraph to say the content of the feedback from the board should have been given more prominence in the summary and main body of the report, respectively. She is not disagreeing with the Comptroller and...

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)

Seán Fleming: Does the Department have a role in commenting on losses or probable losses in individual transactions?

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)

Seán Fleming: Will Mr. Reid tell us who the Department meets and where the monthly meetings are held? We always like to have a feel for what happens. Also, what are the general issues? It was stated there were quarterly and annual reports, etc. How many from the Department of Finance attend and who attends?

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)

Seán Fleming: That is what I was coming to.