Results 481-500 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Is NAMA in a position to make a contribution to the cost? I understand it is in the region of €4 million.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: NAMA can make some contribution.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I have one or two more questions for the chairman of NAMA. It would seem to an outsider that Project Eagle was not handled that well, that there was a lack of judgment in terms of pursuing it, in retrospect. Nine international consortia were involved at the very beginning and we have only talked about the three final ones, Fortress, PIMCO and Cerberus. When the other six were gone and when...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Did they pull out after due diligence?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Had they all-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: If PIMCO was gone and Fortress was clearly not going to meet the reserve and the reserve was public-----

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: It was clear then to Cerberus that it only had to go one penny above the reserve.

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Is it unusual that there should be only two competitors at the end?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Absolutely. Is there not a sense of déjà vuwhen we look at Project Arrow, which is also down to two bidders currently? I am not sure exactly where it is, but the third bidder has pulled out. Goldman Sachs has pulled out, so there is only Apollo and Cerberus left. Cerberus has been involved in the Northern Ireland one in very similar circumstances to what seems to be happening in...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: What is the par value of Arrow?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: What is the reserve price?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: That would be a huge cut on the par price, would it not?

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: I was going to ask about Project Jewel, which seems to be the jewel in the crown, but perhaps somebody else will do that. It seems to be quite a successful achievement. It will give the witnesses the opportunity to talk about the good things as well as the question marks. I want to make a point which relates to the SDZ in the docklands. NAMA has been in existence since 2010 and we are...

Public Accounts Committee: National Asset Management Agency: Financial Statements 2014 (Resumed) (1 Oct 2015)

Joe Costello: Well, not just to move-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: I wish to add to the point. At one of our previous meetings we decided we would have an overview of all of those bodies in which significant issues relating to governance and compliance arose with the auditing codes and that we would look at the broad range of public bodies to see if there is a pattern and how it could be addressed. Mr. McCarthy's office was to do some background work to...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: Did we not discuss on a broader basis the fact that the code of practice is not being complied with not only by many State bodies related to education but also in the health area, including by the HSE, that these are recurring items, and how we can address the broader issue of infringement of procurement rules that seems to be the recurring matter in all of these cases?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: Could the Comptroller and Auditor General circulate it?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: The point the Chairman is making is very relevant because the issue of procurement and compliance is really the bane of our lives at the Committee of Public Accounts. While I am a relatively new member of the committee, I am aware that it continually raises its head. It is an issue of how public money is spent and that is the main requirement. Public officials should be held to account if...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: Yes, exactly, with public procurement, right across the board. When we carry out that analysis of the public sector where there are individual failures - and they have been identified at virtually every meeting we have held - some policy has to be recommended to the Government to adopt on this matter.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Sep 2015)

Joe Costello: Department of Health officials will be here next month. Can we put that matter on the agenda for our meeting with them?