Results 61-71 of 71 for nama speaker:Shane Cassells

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

Shane Cassells: ...work that was going to be conducted, I thought one of the most striking comments was from Sean Whelan in RTE. He referred to what was the unprecedented stand-off between Mr. McCarthy's office and NAMA, which obviously generated and captured the public attention. We have then had a series of unprecedented statements by NAMA. In that respect, considering the onslaught on Mr. McCarthy's...

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

Shane Cassells: I appreciate that, and obviously the members of this committee appreciate the factual report Mr. McCarthy has put forward. What interests me is the response to it from NAMA. We we will hear from and question its representatives later. However, there seems to be bully-boy tactics at play. Deputy Cullinane asked about NAMA operating in the real world and Frank Daly, in his own words, said...

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

Shane Cassells: Mr. McCarthy stated this morning that "there [may be] strategic and commercial reasons why NAMA might prefer an early loan sale" and that it is a business decision and not something he would comment on. In response to Deputy Burke, Mr. McCarthy said that once they went for that option, there was an immediate acceptance that there was going to be a bigger discount, so Mr. McCarthy is...

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

Shane Cassells: Okay. I have a limited amount of time. In respect of the process of sale and record keeping, Mr. McCarthy said that there were no adequate records of the key decisions for Project Eagle kept by NAMA. Is that one of the most worrying aspects of this for Mr. McCarthy in his report? It obviously gives rise to potential assertions in respect of incompetency at the worst and otherwise at...

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

Shane Cassells: ...of the allegations of Mr. Cushnahan's involvement, in the conclusions of the Comptroller and Auditor General, in an arrangement to share fees with Brown Rudnick, this warranted more action by NAMA when the matter came to light. Mr. McCarthy referred to those in NAMA being focused on what were their legal obligations rather than what were the options for action that should be considered....

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

Shane Cassells: I am reading between the lines. Mr. McCarthy has left us hanging. He has made this statement that has captured the public imagination and brought people down a certain road. He has said those in NAMA were more focused on their legal obligations rather than what they should have been doing as part of a robust body. Mr. McCarthy has given a taste and left us hanging. What I am asking is...

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

Shane Cassells: ...witnesses have really come out swinging. However, we spent the morning in a three and a half hour session here with the gentleman sitting to the witnesses' right who made a very stern case that NAMA did not. I made a note of his comments. He says it was not a well-designed sale process, "This sales process does not give me confidence that the best price was achieved and that there was...

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

Shane Cassells: Mr. Daly has summed it up again by saying that if there was not a headline saying probable loss NAMA would not be here. Mr. McEnery gave a passionate defence of the discount. Does the Minister for Finance accept the rationale, the discount applied and the price achieved for that disposal?

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

Shane Cassells: Has there been an interaction between NAMA's office and him or his office to discuss that? Has the Department of Finance sought explanations for the discount and the rationale behind applying it? Have the Department, the senior officials and the Minister accepted NAMA's rationale over the past few months?

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

Shane Cassells: NAMA sent that out in a circular to the Cabinet and because there was no pushback it takes that as acceptance of the rationale for the discount.

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

Shane Cassells: Has the Minister not contacted Mr. Daly or any other senior NAMA official to discuss the understanding? It is a topical issue. It is not too often people in the local pub discuss NAMA. The Minister has to be cognisant of the fact that this affects the ordinary person on the street. Has he picked up the telephone and asked Mr. Daly, one to one, his stance on this issue?