Results 14,141-14,160 of 20,884 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: It is a fair assumption of this committee to hold that the £190 million is not absolute and that there could be variance either way on it. Is that fair?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Again, this committee can assume that the £190 million is not absolute and that there could be a variance on it either way.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: I know that, I simply wanted to establish that. The Comptroller and Auditor General has brought new information before the committee today which is interesting. It relates to the process by which the Comptroller and Auditor General challenges himself, which is welcome. What did Mr. McCarthy find out from the UK National Audit Office and the former secretary and director of audit through...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: This committee has established that as a key component and we will debate that with NAMA representatives later. What was the time difference from the first challenge from the UK and second from the director? Was the second challenge that Mr. McCarthy put in place - which I welcome - as a result of the issues that the first challenge brought about?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: In other words, was Mr. McCarthy double-checking or was it that Mr. McCarthy took the view it was prudent to do another challenge?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Did the second challenge bring up issues that were different to the first?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: I will keep going. Have NAMA representatives ever before taken issue with the expertise in the Office of 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 (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Four drafts were produced. The final two were sent to the Department of Finance but there were four in total. Obviously, they continually raised issues in respect of the expertise in the office, as NAMA representatives have said publicly. Did they do that all the way through or was it something they were using towards the end?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: The board of NAMA includes the former chairman of the tax authority and a number of other representatives from the National Treasury Management Agency etc. How does this make Mr. McCarthy feel? It must be unprecedented that individuals of this status who are on the board of NAMA are basically, to paraphrase what Deputy Connolly check said, saying that Mr. McCarthy does not know how to do...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: I am not commenting on it but-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Auditors do not have feelings. Is that it?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Sorry, I had to put it out there. I am keen to discuss the external retrospective advice of the three different organisations. For many of us in the committee, this information was brought to light subsequently. It was a retrospective, post the report or findings and the engagement with NAMA. It is strange that the Comptroller and Auditor General agrees with those three reports. Yet they...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: There is more information in it than simply the purchaser.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Mr. McCarthy is saying that if they had to use that as part of their equations for analysis, they would have come to different findings. On the question that NAMA asked in respect of the three different reports, they gave the right answers. However, if they asked the right questions they would have got a different answer. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: In other words, Mr. McCarthy agrees with the reports because of the premise on which NAMA asked them to do the reports.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: That is the reason the contradiction stands.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: On what Mr. McCarthy is saying about Mr. Cushnahan, is it fair to say that NAMA did what it was obliged by law to do in respect of dealing with the information that came out about his role rather than what was prudent and right?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: In a similar way to the treatment of Mr. Cushnahan, Cerberus gave an assurance, in respect of the success fee and payments, that nobody from NAMA would be paid as a result of this. Is it fair to say that legally it was covering itself but did not extend that to other third party payments, such as a step-down payment possibility to people who had some association with NAMA? Was it covering...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Within the report, Mr. McCarthy refers to the assurances given.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (29 Sep 2016)

Alan Kelly: Does Mr. McCarthy feel those assurances were robust enough?