Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Senator just agreed to.

I wish to raise the scandalous profit that was made on a site sold by the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. It is 1-6 Sir John Rogerson's Quay in Dublin city centre. It was sold by the agency for €7.5 million in June 2013 and was then resold last August for €17.75 million. This undoubtedly calls into question NAMA's strategy of rapidly selling its property assets at grossly under-valued prices and ultimately at a significant loss to the Irish taxpayer. A 136% increase in the property price is not reflective of the bounce in the property market in Ireland and it requires further explanation.

NAMA's chief executive officer, Mr. Brendan McDonagh, has stated that the agency will sell up to €250 million worth of assets every three months. In view of the profits to be made by private investors at the expense of Irish taxpayers, this statement is most concerning.

I am aware of a court case being pursued by a US pension fund which alleges that prices were held down by private equity firms such as Blackstone and Carlyle, among others, that formed companies - with representatives from each private equity firm involved - and tried to buy companies or assets in various countries. The firms which are the subject of the US court case to which I refer were accused of agreeing not to compete for each other's exclusive deals and allocating transactions among themselves in order to keep purchase prices down. I understand that NAMA and IBRC have sold billions of euro worth of Irish assets to Blackstone and other private equity firms. In light of what has been revealed in recent days, I am extremely concerned that the best price is not being achieved for the taxpayer when NAMA is selling assets.

There is no doubt that leopards do not change their spots and to expect companies such as Blackstone and other private equity firms to conduct themselves any differently when buying assets in this country rather than the US would be foolhardy to say the least. Let us be clear: there is no practice in place whereby competitors are being eliminated from the auction process in order that assets might be acquired at lower prices.