Results 13,221-13,240 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Less than 10% is very low, is it not?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Of course. Would it always be NAMA's preference to opt for mediation?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is why I am surprised that it is 10%. Obviously, mediation is the preferred route to resolve these.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Would NAMA always be keen on mediation and co-operate fully with it?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What does NAMA do in the mediation process. Are NAMA's legal representatives there?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Who attends on behalf of NAMA? Would it be Ms O'Reilly?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Would NAMA enter into it in the spirit of resolving all of the matters?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am surprised. I agree with Mr. McDonagh that such is the way to sort these matters out. It is more cost effective in the first instance but also, arguably, the fairer and sane way of doing things. Given that NAMA is enthusiastic for this approach, it strikes me as all the more odd that only 10% cases are dealt with in this way. Is that because debtors are set against this process? Has...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am asking Mr. McDonagh to comment generally. I am no asking him to comment on individual cases. There must be a reason 90% do not go to mediation.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does Mr. McDonagh accept that this goes against the grain of common sense?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: On the one hand, there is increased buoyancy in the market-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: NAMA could not have forecasted that. Is that what Mr. McDonagh is saying?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Presumably, the NAMA assessment is based on a detailed analysis of market conditions and the peculiarities of portfolios or individual properties. Is that the case?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Obviously, the ability of NAMA to accurately assess the value of any asset is relevant as well.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is a matter of judgment. The key responsibility of NAMA from the point of view of the taxpayer is the section 10 responsibility to ensure that the agency maximises the return on any given asset.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. McDonagh provide some detail on a particular transaction? It involved a particular site on Sir John Rogerson's Quay. NAMA sold the site in 2013 for €7.5 million. A little over a year later the site changed hands for €17.75 million.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. McDonagh give me the correct dates, please?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Regardless, Mr. McDonagh does not dispute the fact that it was passed on for considerably more than the price for which NAMA sold it?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. McDonagh has stated that. Our job is to scrutinise these matters.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency Financial Statements 2013 (18 Dec 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: This is an isolated individual case. Given the size and the value of the NAMA portfolio it is probably a small matter in one regard, but it does give rise to concerns, I believe, notwithstanding the time lag of a year and a half years or two years. The fact that NAMA sold it at one price and it subsequently changed hands for more than double that price raises questions for people in terms...