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THREE NAMA DIRECTORS have said it’s “wrong” to claim the agency lost out on over €230 million through the sale of its Northern loans.
They’ve also been heavily criticised over their appearance at the Public Accounts Committee, which one TD labelled “a PR disaster”.
Willie Soffe, head of Nama’s credit committee appeared with fellow board members Brian McEnery and Oliver Ellingham to answer questions on the sale of Project Eagle, Nama’s massive northern loanbook.
There were some testy exchanges between the committee and the Nama representatives, who grew increasingly irritated under questioning from TDs.
Soffe told the committee that the conclusions drawn by Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) – that the sale resulted in a potential loss of £190 million – were “wrong”.
PAC chairman Sean Fleming took issue with the adversarial tone of the NAMA directors’ comments to TDs including Kelly. Fleming said the level of attacks was unprecedented.
“I am shocked by your statement that made 10 specific attacks on the C&AG,” Fleming said.
Soffe replied why should Nama meekly accept the report’s findings if it disagreed with them.
Fleming replied:
As a State body, you should play the ball rather than the man.
If I were a referee, every NAMA person here today would have been given a red card.
Fianna Fáil TD Bobby Aylward added:
Ye came in and attacked the Comptroller and Auditor General, which I find unbelievable.
He said he expected Nama’s board members to come in and defend their own conduct “not attack another pillar of the Government, and rubbish what they say and downgrade him”.
Soffe said: “I think what we did – trenchantly I accept – was defend our position. I don’t think that is offensive, and if you say you’re right that you should say you’re right.”
Labour deputy leader Alan Kelly said:
Individually, for the three of ye this has been a PR disaster, to sign off collectively on a statement like this, with the inferences that are in there. It’s a PR disaster for yourselves.
“Some of the inferences in there for me are unacceptable, as against the C&AG, he and his colleagues are just doing his job, they’re not actually declaring any wrongdoing.
In response to an interruption from Nama, Kelly said: “Sorry, I said this was a statement, not a question.
This is the Public Accounts Committee, we ask the questions.
Playing the man
TDs also criticised Nama’s paper trail, their “rushed” sale, and response to Frank Cushnahan crisis.
Nama board members rejected arguments that Frank Cushnahan’s conflict of interest in some way harmed the Irish taxpayer
“I would respond that his alleged actions had no bearing whatsoever on the price paid by the winning bidder or on Nama’s decision to sell,” Soffe added.
Ellingham said of the status of members of the advisory board such as Cushnahan:
Those guys were there to provide colour, to provide information on the (local situation). They they were never given any information on debtors.
PAC chairman Fleming also criticised Nama for failing to release certain documents the committee had requested three weeks ago.
“If there’s an issue over one or two of them, give us the rest of them,” he said.
The directors were also accused of deliberately keeping some information from Nama’s advisors in order to secure a clean bill of health.
Nama confirmed that Lazard, the company recruited to make sure all possible buyers were found for the loans, were not asked to value the loans first. They were also not told of the reason why the original bidders Pimco had pulled out.
The three directors also all gave different opinions on whether Brexit was a factor in the accelerated sale of Project Eagle, in response to questions from Alan Kelly.
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Good to see NAMA being investigated but it’s hard to take Alan Kelly serious when he starts on about PR disasters!!
@Gary Smith: agree with you on that.
It’s laughable to hear FF whinging about NAMA’s conduct when it was they who established the entity as an another opaque mechanism to bailout the delinquent banks and developers. Under the blueshirts and Labour of course, NAMA expanded it’s remit to enable the looting of the nation by international vulture funds with a vast firesale of land and property assets at knockdown prices while a domestic homeless epidemic rages . It’s a feeding frenzy for the speculative sharks and the blood in the water as ever is that of the working class
@Gary Smith:
It’s hard to take Tds complaining about unanswered questions from a quango set up by themselves and stuffed with their own cronies.
Definitely Gary, but in fairness to him Alan Kelly knows all about PR Disasters!
@Billy Mooney:
Wally, Where do you copy and paste this rubbish from?
Which part could you not understand Alan?
Should only AAA be allowed to whinge now, it’s everybody’s right to whinge, don’t be greedy
Sack all the NAMA directors. They think they are above the PAC, and still not giving requested materials after weeks. You would swear they were a private company.
It was a bit rich watching Alan Kelly asking these boys questions when for 5years he stood by while people were made homeless. Hypocrisy in motion was what I was watching.
Wasn’t Alan Kelly the cause of rent increases at one stage?…
Too busy covering their collective arses now
NAMA is 51% privately owned by a SPV, to circumvent EU competition legislation.
NAMA was a terrible idea from the get-go. Secretive almost shadowy dealings with little or no transparency in the early stages. Selling at huge discounts to vulture funds instead of managing the properties and selling for market value. I can understand bulk selling at a small discount but not for the prices they settled on. Since 2008 Ireland and her people have been put through the wringer. We’ve been forced to take on debt that wasn’t ours (yes some eejits out there never had subprime mortgages but paid out their arses for those that did and defaulted). Then to have our assets stripped off and “sold” for such discounts was crazy. Banks in court every week looking to evict people so that they can sell off properties and cut their losses bringing down their loan books while other entities collect properties like they’re going out of fashion and holding them while stimulating a housing crisis while pushing up rents (oh hello greed, thought we forgot about you since Celtic Tiger 1.0) and now drop feeding the market at extraordinary price increases (again, anyone remember the bubble?)
*drip feeding.
NAMA was set up to lose money but bring in cash.
While lining a few pockets too (hint, hint, not ours)
But sure it was only taxpayer money , that doesnt matter…..its not like it was a hedge fund managers money or anyone important like that
Thank a God, don’t know how I’d sleep at night otherwise
Their arrogance was truly breath taking.
PR doesn’t matter to these clowns and their masters. They couldn’t care less what we think about them. They know they’ll get away with everything they want.
Some serious contributions made today, not least by McDonald and Cullinane. They forced the NAMA board to withdraw their ‘unsubstantiated’ remark about the C&AG, and caught them on the hop asserting Pimco acted in a way which made no sense.
(I can’t say more, you have to watch for yourself!)
The whole vid is worth a watch, but the exchange @ 15:00 lays it bare.
Alan Kelly has no right to ask questions now. Where was he when a minister?
Enjoying the power like a druggie methinks
@Mary Murphy: Delivering the Labour party political agenda which was so far to the right that they got what was coming to them. Pretending to be a left leaning party while hammering the most vulnerable and ramming through a FG policy on water got it’s just reward.
That`s actually interesting and engaging to watch
I only did so because I know one of the board members but despite that the process was interesting to watch
Alan Kelly while asking some tough questions gave the board a get out of jail card
And in essence all they had to say was yes , rather than expose ourselves to the 4 uncertainties we opted for the quick sale
I did not to be fair to either party see any tetchy exchanges as reported by The Journal. It seemed very professionally done
I wouldn`t like Willie Soffe in my corner when trying to argue a case , he was clearly a babbler
The biggest con job ever foisted in the Irish people. When its ever revealed who was was employed by NAMA, their connections and the advisors they used, it will be shown for what it is……a con job.
Nama itself has been setup to take the blame for FG/Liebour’s shortcomings’ while the real culprits (the banks) walk away with Billions.
“The three directors all gave different opinions on whether Brexit was a factor in the accelerated sale of Project Eagle” I’m picturing them meeting in a strip club jax about 2 years ago, when one says ‘ah sure we can just say it was down to the auld Brexit thing if anyone says anything’ Id say heads nodded in so much agreement that one of them hit his head and fell into the jax pot.
have your say