Joe Conway (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liomsa ar an gcéad dul síos tagairt a dhéanamh do thuarascáil ar dhéanadh le déanaí ar the National Asset Management Agency. This publication came to light recently and was submitted to the Taoiseach. It is a report on the National Asset Management Agency's disposal of its Northern Ireland loan portfolio, Project Eagle, and was submitted to the Taoiseach pursuant to section 32 of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 by the Commission of Investigation (National Asset Management Agency) on 4 October 2024.I ask the Cathaoirleach to bear with me while I dig out my technology here. This commission of investigation was appointed to examine the sales of assets in Northern Ireland by the State assets management agency, NAMA. Its report found that the strategy was appropriate in the circumstances, but raised issues regarding the agency's handling of conflicts of interest. If I can go further down through the report, the commission found that NAMA "correctly and robustly" declined to sanction any fee paid to certain people. The commission also accepted that the failure by NAMA to reappoint certain persons may well have been damaging to "highly politically sensitive" North-South relations. The report also found that NAMA should have brought certain disclosures to the attention of the NAMA board in advance of them considering the reappointment of external members, and that this would have enabled the board of NAMA to make an informed and considered decision. The report said it had identified some aspects of the process that are subject to criticism, albeit that these issues did not impact on the price ultimately achieved for the portfolio, which was £1.322 billion. The commission of investigation said the application of an adjustment of £85 million in relation to some properties was "not appropriate", however. The report also called into question a valuation placed on the portfolio by the CEO, saying that it was not mathematically precise but merely represented a "reasonable estimate". It was also critical of a decision to set a minimum price below the book value of the portfolio without it being properly documented. This is one of the sections that I find particularly upsetting. It also raised issues regarding the record-keeping in relation to the decision that the portfolio be purchased in cash. Senators will recognise that the time this was all done was around 2012. It was within a short remit of the peace process. We know that in 2012, there was a shocking amount of cash washing around in the Northern Ireland economy. I am worried about that.