Results 2,741-2,760 of 27,019 for speaker:Michael Noonan

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am advised that draft one and draft two were only advanced to NAMA. Draft three was the first to come to us.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: Does Ms Nolan wish to comment on that?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: When I was Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, I dealt with several reports. The custom, particularly with value-for-money reports, is that the Comptroller and Auditor General sends a draft to the agency in question and the parties enter into a dialogue to develop a final draft.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Comptroller and Auditor General is open to very significant amendments. That was the process under way in June.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: Mr. Carville wishes to make an observation.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: No. There is, as we all know, a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General and there are hearings, including this one. At the end of the day, I presume the committee will bring forward a report and it may even make recommendations in the normal way. All I am saying is I saw the Comptroller and Auditor General in a replay of his evidence on RTE. I have great respect for him and his...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: The reason I am doing this is that the committee has focused a lot, rightly on the events and Northern Ireland, but there is another context. NAMA was represented at the meetings with the troika; therefore, it would very much have been aware of the other context. I am saying the committee should not assume that NAMA was responding to political pressure when it speeded up the sale of its...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: I am sorry, but that is not my position either. The Committee of Public Accounts is the place where a discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and the divergences of opinion between the Comptroller and Auditor General and NAMA can be resolved. There may be other issues arising and the Government has already announced that there are discussions with party leaders to further...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: In general, NAMA did a very good job. When it started out, nobody thought that it would even break even. It is now due to bring in a surplus of some €3 billion.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: On the particular deal, in the light of circumstances and the knowledge available at the time, it seemed that NAMA had done a good job. As a matter of fact, the Comptroller and Auditor General's office conducted an audit in 2014 and did not bring to my attention or that of anyone else that it had a problem with the sale of Project Eagle in terms of a loss to the taxpayer. That was after the...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: The issue of a probable loss has been identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Is that not what the committee is exploring in the hearings?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: My position is that it has not been proved that there was a loss, but the Comptroller and Auditor General says there was a probable loss, while NAMA states there was no probable loss.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: No; I have an open mind about it. I am waiting for the results of the committee's hearings.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: What help does the Deputy want?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: I have not said that at all. I did not believe there was a probable loss until I saw the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. I knew the issue was being raised, but in 2014 when this occurred, nobody said to me that there was a probable loss. When the Comptroller and Auditor General's office conducted an audit on the 2014 accounts, it made no suggestion there was a problem.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: The loss is not the issue. The issue is that there was a loss that need not have been incurred.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: Everybody knew from the auditor's report that there was a loss. The issue is whether it could have been avoided. We are now in a position where the Comptroller and Auditor General-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: The Comptroller and Auditor General is now of the opinion that with a different process on a different timeline with a different discount rate - they are the three elements - it could have been avoided. I do not know whether he is right or wrong but I know that NAMA has a different view. That is why I have an open mind on it.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: What he said was that the board was disposed to continue with the sales process because there was sufficient "competitive tension", which I think was the expression used, in the market, but the board was taking the advice of its financial advisers and that it would make a decision when it had that. That was the position as outlined to me. I am not saying that is what Mr. Daly said, but that...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (6 Oct 2016)

Michael Noonan: There is full agreement on the bulk of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. There is an issue surrounding the probable loss but, in examining it, the difference of opinion is not about the probable loss, but rather about the causes of the probable loss. As I understand, the Comptroller and Auditor General's view is that if a different process had been used against a different...