Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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271. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will establish a commission of inquiry to be conducted into the sale of the National Asset Management Agency's Northern Ireland portfolio in particular, and the workings of the agency in general; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28596/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously outlined, most recently in response to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 238 of June 23rd 2015 and 133 of June 17th 2015, NAMA is already subject to a high level of public accountability compared to other commercial bodies, including commercial bodies in the State sector and I do not believe further measures are required at this time.

In accordance with their obligations under Section 53, 54 and 55 of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA must submit  an Annual Statement before 30th September each year (s53), audited Annual Accounts and Financial Statements after each financial year (s54), and Quarterly Reports four times a year (s55).I am obliged to lay all of these reports before the Oireachtas and I endeavour to do so on a timely basis. The most recent Quarter 1 2015 Report will be laid before the Oireachtas and published shortly.

Pertinent to the Deputy's question, the Chairman and Chief Executive are also accountable to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and other Oireachtas committees and to give evidence to those committees whenever required to do so. The Deputy will, therefore, be aware that the Chairman and CEO appeared before the PAC on 9th July 2015, specifically regarding the sale of the Agency's Northern Ireland Portfolio, and welcomed the opportunity to publically state their position on record. The recording and transcript of the Committee hearing is available on the Oireachtas website and the opening statements of both the Chair and Chief Executive are also available from the NAMA website ().

NAMA's accounts are also audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). In addition, the C&AG has already produced three special reports on NAMA (each of which are available on both NAMA and the C&AG's websites) and I understand that a fourth, regarding Value for Money (VFM), is in the early stages of preparation.If there is concern about a specific aspect of NAMA's work, it is within the power of the Comptroller and Auditor General to scrutinise any aspect of it.Regarding the specific request made by the Deputy, I note that as part of its upcoming third triennial review of NAMA (s226), the C&AG has confirmed that it will perform a value for money review and as part of this will be looking at the Project Eagle portfolio sale to determine if NAMA did achieve best value. The C&AG is best positioned to independently review this transaction and make such a determination.

Finally, as I stated in my response to Parliamentary Question No.150 on 7th July 2015, there is no suggestion that the allegations recently made in the Dáil by the Deputy, and others, relate to any wrongdoing on the part of NAMA. 

Taking all of the above into consideration, I do not contend that a specific inquiry into this sale process is required nor, as stated previously, is there merit in the argument that NAMA should be made more accountable.