‘sup?
Some Dad writes:
Is the Mick Wallace campaign (left) channeling The Lonely Beast (right). Only one has the decency to wear a tie.
Meanwhile…
Anne Marie O’Connor writes:
Someone in Wexford is addressing Wallace’s wardrobe woes.
Pic:Vicki Walsh
Tag Archives: Mick Wallace
Mick’s Tape
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A video compilation showing Independent TD Mick Wallace’s efforts to highlight his concerns surrounding Nama over the past several months.
It follows the Commercial Court granting summary judgment for €2million against Mr Wallace earlier today – in relation to an Ulster Bank loan taken over by a company called Promontoria (Aran) Limited, a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital.
Mr Wallace had argued that the assignment of the loan to Promontoria was not valid but Mr Justice Brian McGovern disagreed.
Previously: ‘Cerberus Told Me I Was Going To Get Sorted’
High Court grants judgement for €2m against Mick Wallace (RTE)
Video by Strawberry Films
From top: Independent TD Mick Wallace; Claire Daly and Mick Wallace at Shannon Airport in July 2014
[Mick Wallce] had been fined €2,000 on two charges of breaching airport by-laws during a protest at Shannon Airport in July last year but has not paid the fine.
Mr Wallace was allowed to drive to his home near Clontarf Garda Station to collect clothes and was then driven to Limerick.
TD Wallace arrested over non-payment of fine (RTÉ)
(Rollingnews/Loais Nationalist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVFYnCUugM
You may recall previous claims made by Independent TD Mick Wallace in the Dáil about the sale of Nama’s northern Ireland portfolio, Project Eagle.
During Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today, Mr Wallace made further claims, alleging that Nama gave him an ‘untrue’ answer in relation to a question he asked about Nama’s former head of asset recovery, Ronnie Hanna.
In addition, Mr Wallace said:
“Ronnie Hanna was part of a cabal to seek payment for affecting the biggest property deal in the history of the State.”
The Irish Times has since reported a Nama spokesman saying:
“Deputy Wallace has today falsely accused Nama of giving untrue answers to his questions. He is wrong to do so.”
Meanwhile, in response to his claims, Tánaiste Joan Burton told the Dáil:
As somebody who was involved in the building trade, I know from some of the public records and the media that he suffered. This does not mean that because he feels a very strong personal sense of grievance, which I understand, that his claims of wrongdoing against NAMA stand up.
From the Dáil proceedings…
Mick Wallace: “I have been co-operating with An Garda Síochána on a number of issues relating to NAMA and it has been back to me regarding some of these issues. As the Tánaiste is aware, I have asked many questions in the Chamber about NAMA but I have not got many answers. In fact I have got none. I have put some of the questions and others to NAMA directly and I have got answers from it, some satisfactory and some not. One of the questions I asked about Project Eagle was whether Ronnie Hanna, along with Frank Cushnahan or David Watters, ever met any US investment fund personnel. NAMA’s reply was “No”, that Mr. Hanna had no such meetings with these individuals. We now know that Ronnie Hanna, head of asset recovery in NAMA, did meet at least one of the US investment funds. NAMA’s answer to my question is not true.”
“PIMCO pulled out of the Project Eagle deal because its compliance department would not agree to the success fee. Cerberus replaced it and paid the success fee. What would PIMCO have got for this fee? What did Cerberus get for the fee? It got insider information and the ability to affect the deal. An executive of NAMA, Ronnie Hanna, was part of a cabal to seek payment for affecting the biggest property deal in the history of the State. The three individuals, Ronnie Hanna, David Watters and Frank Cushnahan, had information above and beyond what was available in the data room. David Watters had reviewed the business plan for many of the debtors.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle Michael Kitt: “The Deputy is naming many names…”
Peter Mathews: “We need them.”
Kitt: “… and it is a long-standing convention that accusations should not be made against people outside of the House.”
Wallace: “These are all in the public domain.”
Robert Dowds: “Go before the Committee of Public Accounts on this.”
Wallace: “Frank Cushnahan was looking after the political side in the North and Ronnie Hanna was looking after matters inside NAMA in Dublin. We are not talking about Belfast; this is Dublin. This is at the heart of NAMA in Dublin, and this is on the Tánaiste’s watch. The Taoiseach assured us that NAMA had dealt comprehensively with all matters put to it at the Committee of Public Accounts, but what is this worth now? We need an independent commission of inquiry. I realise that Fine Gael certainly does not want one, but the Tánaiste is the leader of the Labour Party and she should ensure there is an independent commission of inquiry.”
Tánaiste Joan Burton: “With regard to Project Eagle, I am advised the loan sale was executed in a proper manner, and despite all the different charges the Deputy has made, and charges against named individuals who are not in a position to comment or defend their good name in the House…”
Bernard Durkan: “Hear, hear.”
Burton: “…but the Deputy has named them nonetheless, I am told the facts are there are no claims of wrongdoing against NAMA. However, the Deputy clearly has issues with regard to the people he has named.”
“Clearly, at the base or back of his particular complaints is probably his own unfortunate experience, to which he has referred on many occasions. Understandably, he has a very strong vested interest in, and probably even stronger feelings about, what happened in the context of the collapse in the values of properties when the economy and property valuations collapsed. A portfolio worth almost €6 billion, like many people’s personal domestic houses, lost 60%, 70%, 80% or 90% of its value. If the Deputy is saying this loss of value can be attributed entirely to NAMA, and not to the actual impact of one of the most devastating property crashes in the world, then I want to acknowledge he has suffered.”
Mathews: “It was a banking crash that led to a property crash.”
Burton: “As somebody who was involved in the building trade, I know from some of the public records and the media that he suffered. This does not mean that because he feels a very strong personal sense of grievance, which I understand, that his claims of wrongdoing against NAMA stand up. I said to him before on this that NAMA is answerable to the Committee of Public Accounts. I strongly advise the Deputy to take the issues he has raised here, if they are additional to the issues he has already raised, to the Committee of Public Accounts and seek to have them examined there. He knows as well, because we discussed it on a previous occasion, that in the North the Comptroller and Auditor General there is conducting a value for money review into the Northern Ireland sale, and I strongly recommend that the Deputy seeks to get the findings of this report and what it will have to say.
Mary Lou McDonald: “That report is happening here and not in the North.”
Kitt: “Under Standing Order 59 there is a mechanism whereby a Deputy can give prior notice to the Ceann Comhairle concerning matters in the nature of being defamatory and Deputy Wallace should avail of this. I ask him not to name people who are outside the House.”
Wallace: “Any allegations I have made against NAMA have zero to do with my business. I never had interaction with NAMA through my business. I did not go into NAMA. The Tánaiste seems to be deliberately failing to interpret what I have said. I have given her some new information and I have outlined how I was told untruths by NAMA when it was questioned. The Tánaiste does not seem to have a problem with this. This is shocking.”
Pearse Doherty: “Hear, hear.”
Wallace: “It has nothing to do with me; it has to do with the people. NAMA has failed to serve them properly. There are serious question marks. An executive of NAMA, Ronnie Hanna, in Dublin, deliberately interfered in the process. Does the Tánaiste not have a problem with this? Is she just going to let this flow on and not look for a proper independent commission of investigation into this? Is this possible? I find it hard to credit.”
Eric J. Byrne: “Say it before the Committee of Public Accounts.”
Dowds: “Go before the Committee of Public Accounts on this.”
Wallace: “I will put a number of questions to the Tánaiste, and she should get answers to them from NAMA. It might tell her the truth. What date and time and to whom was the Fortress bid submitted? What date and time and to whom was the Cerberus bid submitted? Were the bidders advised that the bids were to be the best and final bids? Were they advised that the reserve was £1.24 billion? When and by whom was Fortress advised that its bid was not successful? Did Fortress offer in writing or verbally to increase its bid? Mr. Hanna resigned six months to the day after the Cerberus deal went through. Why?”
Arthur Spring: “Does Deputy Wallace know the answers to any of those questions?”
Burton: “I appreciate the Deputy’s concern in the matter, and if he has had no contact with NAMA, I accept that, but I certainly have seen in the public media and I am aware that he was a very fine developer and builder who lost out, as so many others did, in the course of the property collapse in Ireland.”
Clare Daly: “What has that got to do with it?”
Mathews: “That has nothing do with it. How dare the Tánaiste say that? The Tánaiste should withdraw that remark as it has nothing to do with Deputy Wallace’s question.”
Burton: “The Deputy has set out on Leaders’ Questions a series of very detailed questions relating to a specific institution – NAMA – that is answerable to the Committee of Public Accounts. The Deputy is, I suppose, using a trick deployed by lawyers. He is asking a question and he is very confident he knows the answer to it but I have had no notice of it.”
Nama accuses Mick Wallace of making false allegations on Project Eagle (Irish Times)
Previously: Project Eagle And The €3.5 Billion Haircut
‘Cerberus Told Me I Was Going To Get Sorted’
Transcript: Oireachtas.ie
“The amount of people that are being killed today by military hardware has just gone off the Richter scale. The five biggest producers of arms, or exporters of arms, in the last five years were the US, Russia, China, Germany and France. And sadly, you have to ask yourself, if you look and ask how many repressive autocratic regimes in this region that France has not sold arms to, it’s a difficult question.”
“Because they have sold to Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Pakistan.”
“Well, my niece said to me, on Saturday morning, that, for the first time in her life, she got an idea of what it must be like to live in the Middle East because it happens on a regular basis, what happened in Paris. Can you imagine it? That you couldn’t go to a concert, or a restaurant or a bar but you might be afraid to be killed. And this is what these people are facing all the time.”
“And last year, we gave permits for 190 metric tonnes of bullets to go to Afghanistan. Now, I don’t imagine that they did much good, in terms of peace. 2.5million troops have gone through Shannon since 2001, huge amounts of military armoury have gone through Shannon since 2001, and huge amounts have been overflown. And we are OK with that.”
“As long as the arms industry, and the shares have gone up 4% on average in the last three days in the arms industry, it’s a good weekend for them. Because it looks like there’s going to be even more arms used.
“President Hollande said, we are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. But they’re already bombing ISIS and others. They’re giving guns and arms to Saudi Arabia, who are giving them to ISIS, as are the United Arab Emirates, they give arms and guns to anyone that will fight Assad. Western countries are arming both sides.”
“We have created ISIS but we’re not going to defeat the military of ISIS. Only Iraq and Syria will actually eventually defeat ISIS. They want France to react in a strong military fashion. That’s what they want. They don’t want us to take a peaceful position on it and to stop militarising the area. They don’t want us to take a rational position on it. We are feeding them with this whole militarisation of the region.”
Independent TD Mick Wallace in the Dáil earlier this evening.
Related: Extent of Shannon and Ireland’s Complicity in War Revealed (Shannonwatch)
Thanks Oireachtas Retort
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfbJW6s97-0
Independent TD Mick Wallace
Independent TD Mick Wallace once again raised the sale of Project Eagle by Nama during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil earlier.
And, once again, he called for a Commission of Investigation into the sale.
Mick Wallace: “If they needed any more proof of the need for a commission of inquiry into the workings of NAMA, Members got it at the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts last Thursday. Deputy McDonald challenged NAMA about redactions in its responses to questions from the Northern Ireland inquiry and in particular, details of Frank Cushnahan’s conflict of interest declaration to the agency. NAMA’s representatives told the Deputy they could not give them to her and were not even obliged to so do. Answers will not be forthcoming without a commission of inquiry. There have been a great number of questions but there have been absolutely no answers and I still am not convinced the Government wants the answers. Members still do not know why NAMA allowed the Project Eagle process to continue despite the involvement of Tughans and Brown Rudnick, which had been involved in the Pimco deal. Members still do not understand how NAMA could possibly tolerate the idea of selling Project Arrow to Cerberus, which is under criminal investigation in America and Britain. How in God’s name can this be the case…”
Peter Mathews: “Hear, hear.”
Wallace: “…apart from the fact it makes no sense to sell Project Arrow in any event, given that 50% of it is residential and the country faces a housing crisis? It has a par value of more than €6 billion and yet NAMA looks to sell it for less than €1 billion. This simply does not make sense and the process should be stopped. If Cerberus is found guilty, what happens with Project Eagle? Will it be null and void? Will the entire process be undone? When Pimco’s potential criminal violation was found, did NAMA seek US legal advice? When NAMA found out, did it approach the Garda under section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act?”
Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett: “A question please, thank you.”
Wallace: “If it did, when did NAMA so do? Did Lazard express views regarding the continued involvement of Brown Rudnick and Tughans or was it satisfied in this regard? Does the Taoiseach have a problem with the fact that Lazard, which ran the process for NAMA, also was involved with the bank that gave the money to Cerberus to buy it? Does the Taoiseach have a problem with that?”
Finian McGrath: “No problems.”
Enda Kenny: “I already have answered questions on this matter in the House, as has the Minister for Finance. The Deputy is aware two investigations are under way in this regard. He is aware of the interest from the United States. The Deputy has made or has been given information that he has brought to the House and he has gone to the Garda, on which I commend him. However, Deputy Wallace also is aware NAMA is responsible, through the Committee of Public Accounts to this House and the Oireachtas. I understand the Deputy has declined to give witness evidence to the aforementioned committee but he should do so. He has information or has been given information: somebody is supplying him with information, which is fair enough. He has used some of that in giving it to the authorities. However, he is making highly specific allegations here and I suggest he should accept an invitation from the Committee of Public Accounts to appear as a witness and give his evidence to the body through which NAMA is accountable to the Oireachtas and have justified the claims he has made or otherwise. I cannot speculate on a court hearing or hearings that are taking place in regard to Cerberus or any other company as to what the outcome of that might be.”
Later
Kenny: “I suggest to Deputy Wallace that while we can continue this kind of dialogue here on a weekly basis, he has been given or supplied with information and evidence…”
Mathews: “Which the Deputy has given to the Taoiseach.”
Kenny: “I suggest he take that information himself…as a witness before the Committee of Public Accounts…where NAMA can reply to the Deputy in the committee… That is what Deputy Wallace should do… Deputy Wallace can deal with the Chairman, Deputy McGuinness, and ascertain whether his allegations or evidence stands up…That is what Deputy Wallace should do… and the Deputy might well serve the national interest in a major way because whoever is giving him his piece of information, he should then test them as to whether they stand up.”
Clare Daly: “Is the Taoiseach going to allow Project Arrow?”
Barrett: “Deputy Wallace.”
Wallace: “I have been to the Garda and to the National Crime Agency. I have come into the House and put stuff before the Taoiseach who is ignoring it. What is he going to do about it? He is the leader of this country and he is ignoring serious questions and serious problems I am raising. Why does the Taoiseach not wish to do something about it?
Barrett: “Will the Deputy put his supplementary question? Thank you.”
Wallace: “At this stage, there is a strong belief that Cerberus was earmarked to get this project hail, rain or snow; that the whole thing was fixed up in order that it would get it. NAMA is involved in that and the agency cannot distance itself. The sales process is not much better then the purchase process.
Barrett: “Sorry, please put your question, thank you.”
Mick Wallace: “Are you satisfied that there was no collaboration with Cerebeus by a Nama insider, based in Dublin? Because I’m not. And you, if you want the answer, don’t bother your barney asking Nama for the answer because they’re not going to give it to you, no more than they’re not giving answers to the PAC. The PAC members themselves admitted last week that they do not have the authority or power to hold Nama to account. A Commission of Inquiry is the only way that you are going to get the answers we need. The Irish people have not been served well by Nama. It stinks to high heaven and you are involved in the cover-up because you refuse to do anything about it.”
Later
Enda Kenny: “You make the point that the Cerebus was earmarked for this project. You make the point that this was all fixed up, you make the point that somebody based here in Dublin was got at. Now, I think Deputy Wallace, these are pretty serious allegations. You make the point, ah yes, Taoiseach I’m involved in some kind of cover-up here and this is a situation that can only be resolved by a Commission of Investigation. Now, you’ve been to the guards, you’ve been to other authorities, I suggest to you now that you elaborate on the information you’ve given here and the allegation that you make in front of the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.”
Meanwhile…
Certain RTE political correspondent said today”for reasons only known to” @WallaceMick, he’s not going to PAC. Mick’s been abundantly clear.
— NAMAwinelake (@namawinelake) October 7, 2015
Full transcript to follow.
From left: Ian Kehoe, editor of the Sunday Business Post, Independent TD Mick Wallace, Tara Deasy, community activist, political blogger Jamie Bryson, joint-leader of the Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway, Cliódhna Russell of TheJournal.ie and Siobh án O’Donoghue, of Uplift, on last night’s Tonight With Vincent Browne
You may recall how NAMA sold its Northern Ireland €5.7million loan book – known as Project Eagle – to US investment fund Cerberus for €1.6million in 2014.
In July Independent TD Mick Wallace told the Dáil that £7million was found in an Isle of Man account following an audit of Belfast law firm Tughans – which was hired by New York legal firm Brown Rudnick to help Cerberus buy Project Eagle.
Mr Wallace claimed part of that £7million was earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician or party.
On foot of these claims, the UK’s National Crime Agency and the US authorities are investigating the sale.
Readers will also recall how, yesterday during Leaders’ Questions, Mr Wallace told the Dáil that he was summoned to a meeting by a ‘public figure’ during which he was warned by a ‘leading member of Cerberus Ireland’ that he was ‘going to get sorted’.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny told Mr Wallace to take his concerns to a member of the Public Accounts Committee.
Last night, the matter was discussed on TV3’s Tonight With Vincent Browne.
Ian Kehoe: “I suppose Nama’s always been, I suppose, a state within a state. It’s almost impenetrable to find out exactly what’s been going on there. Part of that was out of necessity, part of it was that it was created so quickly. The position of Nama in relation to this and the position of the Government would appear to be and I think they’ve acknowledged privately that they have concerns around the buyer side, not around the seller side. And therefore, they’re the sellers, so there’s no worries. I don’t really think that’s good enough. I don’t think it’s likely. But I mean the Government set up a Commission of Investigation into the IBRC – Catherine Murphy did a lot of work on that – and again there was no real, full evidence, you know there was no documents linking it all back but they established that Commission of Investigation very, very quickly. Even with Michael Noonan saying – well, in the end, compared to what they’re doing here, Catherine – but with the Michael Noonan thing, we don’t think there was any allegation, any wrongdoing there. In this case we know that there was 7million pounds Sterling in an Isle of Man bank account, we know that one of the world’s largest private equity firms was asked to exit the initial race because of some allegations over third-party fixers. And the allegations keep on coming. Yet the position of the Government has been, and we also know it’s being investigated, should I say, and parts of it are by the FBI, by the US Department of Justice and by various authorities in Britain and Ireland. And yet the position in this jurisdiction has been, ‘there’s nothing to see here, folks’, ‘it’s somebody else’s problem’. I’m not sure that’s good enough because I think it damages Nama, as an institution, for them to be constantly questioned in this way. I think we should have a look at examining what went on.”
Catherine Murphy: “There’s a culture of secrecy and that’s part of the problem and that’s the way Nama was set up. But this culture of secrecy within the political system as well and they’ll just try and bat this away and hope that somebody like Mick Wallace, or myself when it was the IBRC, will stop making a nuisance of ourselves. The reality of it is with both Nama and IBRC, this Government accelerated the sale of these distressed assets at a point where property values were coming up and where you would have had an entitlement to get more: that’s an issue in its own right. That the public have an entitlement..”
Vincent Browne: “It’s a big issue.”
Murphy: “Absolutely huge issue. And it’s the people’s money that they have done this with and the only purpose that seems to be served on that is that they can say at the end of the day, ‘oh we closed it up two years earlier or three years earlier’…”
Browne: “And they talk about it getting a profit. Wait ’til you see, they’ll talk about getting a profit.”
Murphy: “Yeah, huge, huge losses that are public losses and, in terms of the secrecy, last year I had the same problem and earlier this year when I was looking for even replies to parliamentary questions on IBRC. I was told, Michael Noonan went on the radio and he said, that I could always apply through the Freedom of Information Act. Well I applied through the Freedom of Information Act in the same family of things in relation to IBRC last May. I was due a reply to that in June. It was batted ahead until July. I’m still waiting and I’m now preparing to go to the Information Commissioner to make a formal complaint. That is the kind of behaviour that we’ve come to expect – batting it into a committee – and I think Mick is right on this, batting it into a committee is trying to kind of move it over to a sideshow and actually not deal with the issue at hand. And they’re very serious allegations that have been made.”
Watch back in full here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BsxRaGnlMk&feature=youtu.be
Independent TD Mick Wallace told the Dáil today that he was ‘summoned’ to a meeting by a ‘public figure’ during which he was warned by a ‘leading member of Cerberus Ireland’.
Mr Wallace said the message relayed to him was that he was ‘going to get sorted’.
Cerberus bought NAMA’s Northern Ireland loans, otherwise known as Project Eagle.
Mick Wallace: “Taoiseach, in January 2014, US investor Blackstone acquired three properties from Project Platinum for €100million. They’re now looking to offload them for €170 [million]. That’s a profit of 70%, not 7, 70. Despite the fact that the buildings were yielding around 6% per annum in rents while Nama’s costs of money was less than one. Still, there was a panic to sell them. Taoiseach, following Pimco’s allegations, regarding kickbacks for fixers, why did Nama allow the deal to proceed with the same players, Brown Rudnick and Tughan’s involved. Did Nama report the Pimco allegations to the relevant law enforcement of the Government? And if they did, when? In a confidential letter, from Brown Rudnick, the minister for finance in the North, Sammy Wilson, Brown Rudnick admit to acting for two clients with strong interests in Project Eagle. Brown Rudnick ended up acting for Pimco and Cerberus which isn’t legal. This matter is now being investigated by the Securities and Exchange in America. Why did Nama have no concerns about the involvement of Brown Rudnick and Tughan’s, despite the revelations? Taoiseach, the reserve price for Project Eagle was €1.3billion. This was adjusted to €1.24billion, in April 2014, to reflect, Nama told us, asset disposals which took place in the intervening period between the launch of the loan sale and its closing. Can you find out, Taoiseach, what are the details of these disposals? Can you tell me Taoiseach, why the reserve price was reduced by €60million? Could you find out if this is connected to reports of a developer whose loans were in Project Eagle and he came to Nama to complain about being approached by fixers who were looking for a backhand in order for him to buy his loans back at 50p in the pound from Cerberus in the autumn of 2013, months before Cerberus even bought it. Can you find out, Taoiseach, if Nama actually done a deal with this developer? Can you tell us what disposals were involved with this €60million? Taoiseach, I raised this with you before the summer. Why are you insisted on doing nothing about this? Why don’t you want to get answers to the questions that are being raised? We have loads of questions, and there’s more every week, but we’ve no answers. Why aren’t you interested?”
Enda Kenny: “It’s not a question of not having interest, Deputy. The issue in respect of Nama and the Northern Ireland portfolio, for instance, there are two investigations going on here, one by the police and one by the parliamentary commission. Questions have been answered at some considerable length here in the house by the Minister for Finance on this matter and whatever papers or correspondence is necessary and available will be presented to either of those two investigations. Now, Pimco was dropped as you’re aware. Under the legislation, setting up Nama, Nama are responsible to the Houses of the Oireachtas, they’re before the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday. I suggest that the questions you’ve just asked here, and any other questions you have, be given to a member of the Public Accounts Commmittee to ask Nama directly on Thursday. They are responsible to the Houses of the Oireachtas. You have made, you have made strong statements, you’ve made comments or allegations about fixers, about bags of money, I suggest to you, Deputy Wallace, that if you can back up that information, you should bring it to the notice of the Comptroller and Auditor General immediately and to the police authorities. These are very serious allegations. And the questions that you raise, can be legitimately asked of Nama, at the Public Accounts Committee on this Thursday, they are responsible to this House here. And in respect of the matter of the Northern Ireland portfolio, there are two investigations going on there, outside this jurisdiction.”
Wallace: “Taoiseach I get the impression that you’re trying to hide behind the fig leaf of Oireachtas committees, I’ve already been to the guards, I’ve been to the National Crime Agency, the British who are looking into it. I’ve already been to both of them. Right. What I can’t understand is why you don’t want to know anything about it. Cerberus are under investigation, criminal investigation, in two countries and they still haven’t been disqualified into looking at Project Arrow and threatening to buy it. Project Arrow has a par value of €7.2 [billion] and it looks like it might be sold for something in the region of €1billion, despite that we have…and 50% of it is residential units in the Republic and we have a housing crisis. Where’s the logic of selling Project Arrow to someone like Cerberus, who are being investigated for criminal activity in two countries. Taoiseach, you couldn’t make this up. It’s absolute nonsense. Now listen, I realise these are serious players and actually, only recently, I was summoned to a meeting by a public figure and a message was passed on to me from a leading member of Cerberus Ireland that I was going to get sorted. Now why would they have to say that, if I’m telling the truth? Why would they? Can you understand that? Taoiseach…”
Ceann Comhairle (Sean Barrett): “Sorry this is Leaders’ Questions.”
Wallace: “…Are you actually going to seriously allow the questions that are swirling around Nama, as I’ve said before, Taoiseach, the workings of Nama have left too much to be desired and there’s a lot rotten about it. And Taoiseach is it going to be on your legacy that you ignored all this? Is it going to be a part of your history that you choose to ignore what’s going on in Nama?”
Barrett: “Thank you.”
Kenny: “That’s another allegation that you make and it will not be a part of our history. Nama is responsible to the Houses of the Oireachtas here, of which you are a member. You come in here, week after week, with very strong statements and allegations, I can’t say whether what you say is true or not, or whether you can back that up. I’m glad you’ve gone to the police force, I’m glad you’ve gone to the crime investigations unit but you yourself maybe don’t want these questions raised or have somebody raise them for you at the body to whom Nama is responsible and through whom they’re responsible to this House here. It’s not good enough for you, Deputy Wallace, to come in here. And if you’re the centre of attention for receiving these kinds of allegations, I hope that when they’re made to you, that you demand that proof be given because you have full privilege in here and…”
Wallace: [Inaudible]
Kenny: “…and I’m sure, I’m quite sure Deputy Wallace that you want to use that with responsibility. If there’s an issue here, the questions have been asked and the questions that have been answered by Nama mean that there’s nothing wrong on the seller side. If there’s anything wrong, it seems to be on the purchaser’s side. So I’d suggest to you, you write out your list of questions, these can be raised. You want to find out the truth about these issues well then we need to use the facility available to public representation in the public interest to ask these questions. I’d like that you’d furnish, to the Public Accounts Committee, the basis of the evidence given to you that will make the allegations you make stand up.”
Previously: The Eagle Has Landed
Independent TD Mick Wallace
Readers may recall a Bloomberg report from earlier this week about how a shortlist of three bidders for the largest loan portfolio every put up for sale by Nama – called Project Arrow – includes Cerberus Capital Management LP.
Last year Cerberus bought Nama’s Northern Ireland loan portfolio – called Project Eagle. In the Dáil last month Independent TD Mick Wallace claimed the Project Eagle sale involved over 850 properties with a par value of €4.5billion for less than €1.5billion.
The Project Eagle sale was the subject of a Public Accounts Committee meeting last month and is the subject of a criminal inquiry by the PSNI, following further claims made by Mr Wallace in the Dáil.
Mr Wallace claimed £7 million sterling ended up in an Isle of Man bank account which was reportedly earmarked for a Northern Ireland politician or political party.
Further to this, Sarah Bardon, in the Irish Times, reports:
“An independent investigation into the sale of a multibillion-euro National Asset Management Agency portfolio, named Project Arrow, has been called for by Independent Wexford TD Mick Wallace… Mr Wallace also said he had received a number of new allegations about the workings of Nama and intends to make some of those public when the Dáil resumes in September.”
“A Nama spokesman said any allegation of wrongdoing should be sent to gardaí to be investigated. “Nama can make no comment on the allegations Mr Wallace plans to make using Dáil privilege as it has no information on what they are until he chooses to make them,” said the spokesman.”
Previously: Dough And Arrow
Laura Hutton/Rollingnews.ie
Yesterday, Independent TD Mick Wallace told the Dáil that he knew of a NAMA portfolio manager who sought a bribe of two installments of €15,000 cash “in a bag” from one of its debtors – to allow the debtor exit NAMA.
This morning, Mr Wallace spoke with Gavin Jennings, on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
During the interview, Mr Jennings read a letter that Brendan McDonagh, the CEO of NAMA, had written to the Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan, in light of Mr Wallace’s claims.
The letter said:
“It’s my understanding that, under Section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act 2011, any party with evidence of criminal wrongdoing is legally obliged to bring such evidence to the attention of An Garda Siochana. In the event that the deputy [Wallace] is aware of such evidence and has not brought it to the attention of An Garda Siochana, it’s my understanding that this is a breach of Section 19.”
Mr Wallace told Mr Jennings that he found it “interesting that NAMA would like to shoot the messenger”. He also said he would be willing to speak to the gardaí – and name names.
Meanwhile…
Here is what Mr Wallace said in the Dáil yesterday…
Mick Wallace: “Yesterday, the Taoiseach said the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Committee of Public Accounts are the agencies in this jurisdiction for dealing with issues concerning the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. We both know neither of them have the potential to fully hold NAMA to account. The legislation regarding the Comptroller and Auditor General does not allow for ongoing, intrusive oversight and monitoring and lacks asset management oversight functions. There are many concerns around the workings of NAMA.”
“Cerberus expects to make a large fortune from the purchase of Project Eagle. The £7 million that ended up in an Isle of Man bank account will begin to look like small change. The big loser, though, is the Irish taxpayer in the South. NAMA says the sale of Project Eagle was lawful, but was the purchase lawful? I would have thought that a Fine Gael Government would have a bit more concern about slush moneys for fixers. I doubt the Taoiseach has heard the last of Project Eagle.”
“Does the Taoiseach know how many barristers, judges, solicitors, top-four accountancy firm partners and bankers are in syndicates which have been set up by Goodbody Stockbrokers, Anglo Private, Bank of Ireland Private, AIB Private, Davy, Warren and Quinlan which have transferred to NAMA but which NAMA has not enforced, despite personal guarantees being attached? NAMA is responsible for some people being tossed out of their homes, but it looks like some of the great and good of Irish society are blessed with NAMA’s goodwill.”
“What role did a former Secretary General of the Department of Finance, John Moran, play in NAMA’s handling of the Coroin group’s portfolio? This gentleman remarked at one stage that the number of home repossessions in Ireland was unnaturally low. It would appear he was unnaturally interested in playing a significant role in the outcome of the Coroin group’s portfolio.”
“All is not well. I know of a construction company, Taoiseach, which wanted to exit out of NAMA, so it asked the manager of its portfolio if it could happen and he said, “Yes, but it will cost you €15,000 in cash and I want it in a bag”.”
An Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett: “Sorry, Deputy. If you have these sorts of charges, can I suggest you give them to An Garda Síochána because they cannot be substantiated here?”
Eric J. Byrne: “The Deputy should go before the Committee of Public Accounts with this information. He is grandstanding here.”
Wallace: “A few weeks later, they delivered the money. A few weeks later he demanded the same again. They duly obliged and all was sorted – a small window into the workings of NAMA. Is the Taoiseach still happy with the workings of this secret society?”
Enda Kenny: “The Deputy has made a number of comments and allegations here regarding people working in different sectors, including members of the Judiciary. He made comments in respect of a former Secretary General of the Department of Finance, as well as comments generally in respect of NAMA.”
“Let me repeat again for him. The process of accountability and transparency in this jurisdiction in respect of NAMA is the Committee of Public Accounts in the Oireachtas, chaired by a Member of this House. Personnel from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office work with NAMA and have access to all the papers and documents relevant to any of these transactions.”
“I would suggest that, as a public representative, the Deputy has a facility where questions can follow his allegations. He should go to Deputy [John] McGuinness’s committee, the Committee of Public Accounts, a committee of long-standing integrity in this House. The Deputy can make his claims, ask his questions. The Chairman of the committee, with his members, is entitled to call in personnel in respect of the issues the Deputy raised.”
“The Deputy has made some serious claims here. I do not have the detailed responses to them. The Committee of Public Accounts is the authorised independent entity in the Oireachtas for accountability and transparency in respect of NAMA. I suggest to Deputy Wallace that in the interest of public accountability and transparency, he goes to the committee, presents his findings and facts – if facts they are – and allow the Chairman and his committee to do their work in the interests of their political responsibility here.”
Wallace: “I can only come to the conclusion that the Taoiseach does not seem awfully interested in getting to the truth. There is a stark contrast between how Northern Ireland is dealing with this and how the Government is dealing with it.”
Creed: “The committee is in the North.”
Wallace: “Can the Taoiseach tell me why did Mr. Frank Daly tell the Committee of Public Accounts that he did not know about the alleged £7 million in the Isle of Man bank account until I mentioned it? I know for a fact that NAMA—–”
Barrett: “I am sorry, but this is Leaders’ Questions.”
Wallace: “—–knew this last January. What did it do about it? Did it tell the Minister for Finance or did it bury it with the rest of it? Mr. Coulter has denied the involvement of a politician. Well, he would, would he not? I decided to contact my sources this morning and ask them to what degree of certainty they could stand over the involvement of a particular politician. Their reply was, “Is 100% enough?”. The Taoiseach has serious problems. Does he want answers to them? Do not bother asking me, Taoiseach, to go to the Garda—–”
Barrett: “Sorry, but this is no way to be dealing with such a serious issue. The Deputy cannot use the Chamber as a Star Chamber where no evidence is presented. The Deputy is affecting people’s reputations here. He has not presented any solid facts.”
Transcript via Oireachtas.ie
Listen to Mr Wallace’s interview on Morning Ireland here