Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

She. Under section 35 of the NAMA legislation a code of practice was to be established within three months. This has been done. The code of practice states that all assets under the control of NAMA should be sold under the code of conduct for the governance of State bodies, which means that every asset, be it a loan or property, should be sold by auction or tender. This is not happening. The reason all assets were to be sold by auction or tender was to ensure public confidence that NAMA is doing its job and that the money given to it is being maximised. I have been informed by people involved in the industry that there is widespread corruption in this regard. People whose assets are in NAMA are now buying back their assets at below market value, which is hard to believe. The taxpayer is now losing not tens of millions of euro but hundreds of millions of euro because NAMA is not selling assets in the manner set down by the Oireachtas. These assets should be sold in a transparent manner.

I wrote to the Office of the Attorney General prior to the election and again after the election. I invited the Attorney General to come to this House to explain the reason it appears NAMA is breaking the laws of the Oireachtas. However, she has neither acknowledged nor replied to my letter. For this reason, I call on the Leader, under the powers of this House, to invite the Attorney General to come to this House to address us on this most important issue. We do not want to have to set up a tribunal of inquiry in two years time to investigate why the State bodies did not do their job as directed by the Oireachtas, resulting in a loss of taxpayers' money. I ask the Leader to use Standing Order 56 to do this.