Results 22,761-22,780 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) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We will come back to that.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Before I call on Deputy Cullinane, I shall put a few questions. Some seek information for the witnesses to send on. They just make observations on what has been sent on. I ask the delegation to take note of my remarks. Reference was made to the bond repayment schedule and the need for inward cash flow. Could I have a document showing what the required bond repayment schedule was for the...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We are all hearing about the political context. Was there a little bit of backing off from NAMA because it was Northern Ireland? Could the witnesses explain why this was the case? We cannot just let go the contention that the debtors were 100% at fault.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Could I put a certain interpretation to Mr. Collison? He said some of the debtors in Northern Ireland were not co-operating in the way he would have liked. Is that agreed? The debtors in the North said they will not co-operate with this crowd from Dublin, stick to their guns, not facilitate NAMA and eventually get rid of it. They achieved their objective. They did not co-operate with...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: But NAMA is off the pitch. They did achieve it.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. Collison think of any other major debtors who were awkward with NAMA for selling off their loans so it would be shut of them? Was it normal practice to sell where there were awkward debtors?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: So this was unusual. There was a bunch of awkward debtors-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Collison said NAMA has had a lot of impairments in the North over all the years, as evident in its financial statements, etc. Perversely, did the non-co-operation of debtors in the North ultimately drive down the value of the portfolio?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Yes, but the witnesses can see the point that the debtors' non-co-operation frustrated NAMA in its efforts. It is recorded several times that this ultimately took up a disproportionate amount of NAMA's time and effort. I am sure the debtors did not have a problem with somebody approaching NAMA to get them off the pitch. Did they succeed?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Does Mr. Moriarty see the other side of the equation? The suggestion is that they decided not to co-operate in the hope of eventually frustrating NAMA and forcing it to walk away and sell off these properties. Perhaps they felt that the more they refused to co-operate, the lower the price would be and they would be able to deal with someone else.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Minus personal guarantees.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. Moriarty explain why not? That is what has been said.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I mean the new purchasers. It is said in the documents that have been circulated in the Northern Ireland Executive that they may not pursue-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: It was up to the purchaser.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I accept that it was a matter for the purchaser. The witnesses have spoken about NAMA's enforcement procedures. How many enforcement procedures were concluded in the courts in the North? What were the outcomes of those procedures? It is fine to threaten enforcement but how many procedures were actually concluded-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: -----and in respect of what value? Would the witnesses have that information? Would there have been some?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We have heard a great deal from the witnesses about following the debtors. We have been told that some of the five big debtors known to Mr. Cushnahan were being pursued and enforcement procedures were being taken. We have heard about the 39% enforcement rate. When I asked how many were completed, the witnesses failed to mention that none of them was ever completed through the enforcement...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Right.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Moriarty might send us a note to crystallise that point.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (25 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I want to make one more quick point because other members are keen to speak. Mr. Moriarty might give us a breakdown of the loan sales over the period to which we are referring so that we can get an understanding of this matter. It has been mentioned that income of €112 million was generated from loan sales in Northern Ireland. Perhaps the information I am seeking can be broken down...