Results 32,641-32,660 of 33,581 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: 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.

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: No, my question is whether Mr. Soffe disagrees with Mr. Rowntree.

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 okay.

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: Regarding Lazard, which was appointed in January 2014 and which was given a verbal briefing on the sales process, is it correct that there was no written document?

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: NAMA did not give Lazard a written document. It was a verbal briefing. Okay. The Comptroller and Auditor General has raised concerns in terms of NAMA's reliance on the assurance from Lazard. Today, NAMA has relied on that again. Mr. Soffe in particular has come back and said that Lazard reassured NAMA that the process was-----

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. NAMA never told Lazard that PIMCO had withdrawn in the circumstances in which it had withdrawn.

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: Well PIMCO certainly did not go away quietly because we are talking about it now in 2016. Let us deal with this issue for a moment. NAMA was relying on Lazard's assurance. The Comptroller and Auditor General said that the latter was a limited assurance in light of the information available to Lazard. Does Mr. Soffe have a difficulty with that?

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 is not listening to my question. The Comptroller and Auditor General has raised an issue regarding the nature of the assurance given by Lazard and he said that Lazard had only limited information. Does Mr. Soffe accept that concern?

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: How could one possibly rely on an assurance where one has given limited information and where one knows PIMCO has withdrawn? NAMA has come back and told us even today that it was reassured by that assurance. Are the 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: I am no expert but to me, and I am sure to the ordinary person watching or listening, I am not reassured. Mr. Ellingham gives limited information to get precisely the answer he wants, which is reassurance that the competition is competitive when there is only one remaining bidder.

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: It could well be, but this is not a normal situation. NAMA is now aware that there were success fees and it still does not pass that information on to Lazard.

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. McEnery has said that, and the clock is against me. I will conclude on two matters. PIMCO had already set the price in a range of €1.1 million to €1.3 million and, magically, NAMA's price is very similar. The Comptroller and Auditor General said it had no valuation. None of the witnesses has dealt with that.

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 me finish. They did not deal with it in their ten page submission. They did not deal with the fact that there was a strategic change of plan, and all the Comptroller and Auditor General is saying is that he did not see the justification for that change in plan laid out in the documents he examined. Indeed, the witnesses have attempted to conflate and confuse. I will read what the...

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.