NAMA transparency and asset sales
Senator Daly supports a debate on NAMA, alleging inadequate transparency and preferential property sales, and calls for a Minister to explain the agency’s operations and proposed Garda investigation.
I second the amendment to the Order of Business that a member of the Government come to the House today to discuss the revelations in relation to NAMA. I thank my colleague, Senator O'Brien, for raising this issue which I have raised on a number of occasions in the House. This is a serious issue. It has been in the ether for a long time that former developers have been benefiting in terms of buying back their own properties from NAMA. We have read in the newspapers that former members of NAMA are under suspicion in regard to their joining property development companies which are buying back their properties.
I have previously raised on the Order of Business the case of-----
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-----Anglo Irish Bank which granted a loan for the Four Seasons-----
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This information was in the newspapers.
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This is not a legal case. It is a matter of public record.
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Some €50 million has been spent on-----
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Senator Daly, we are not discussing any specific case here in respect of which legal issues may arise.
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This is not a legal case. It is a matter of public record that €50 million was spent-----
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This has nothing to do with privilege. It is a fact that-----
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Excuse me. The Senator is speaking here under privilege. I am not allowing him to speak about any specific case or individual.
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This is not in relation to an individual. It is in relation to loans that are on the public record. Am I allowed to discuss those?
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We are not discussing anything like that. This is the Order of Business. Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?
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I am asking the Leader about issues which I have raised previously in relation to lands that have been sold not only below market value but for less than that for which they were sold to NAMA. Properties for sale to developers or people in the know are not being made available to the public by way of list or advertisement in the newspapers and so on. We previously asked in the context of the NAMA and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Transparency Bill that every asset for sale by NAMA would be available on a public list. This has not been done. As a consequence, the Garda Commissioner is to investigate NAMA, which is a serious issue. This matter has been ongoing for two years.
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What we need in NAMA is transparency for the good of NAMA, the taxpayer, NAMA employees and for the betterment of the structure of NAMA.
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I support the amendment to the Order of Business so that a Minister can come to the House to see if the Government knows what is going on in order to have transparency in NAMA.