Party leaders agree to set up statutory inquiry on Project Eagle

Taoiseach Enda Kenny met with leaders of opposition groups at Government Buildings Thursday afternoon and quickly agreed that a statutory inquiry should be set up into Project Eagle, the controversial sale of Nama's Northern Ireland loan book.

After a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General published Wednesday found that the sale probably resulted in a loss of over €200 million to the taxpayer, Mr Kenny moved to seek opposition agreement for an inquiry today.

Speaking after the meeting the Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin said that there was a "strong consensus" at the meeting that a Commission of Investigation should be set up on a statutory basis.

Though some opposition leaders are seeking a broader inquiry than just an investigation into Project Eagle, all agreed to revert in the coming days with suggestions for the exact legal format and terms of reference.

The matter will be debated and voted on by the Dáil on its return later this month.

Sinn Fein and some Independent TDs said that the inquiry needed to go beyond just the sale of Project Eagle, although there is likely to be opposition to a broad, open-ended inquiry into Nama in Government.

Mr Martin said that a broader inquiry was “possible, maybe warranted” but that the initial focus should be on a narrower inquiry.

Labour leader Brendan Howlin said there was “a reasonable initial level of consensus” that a statutory investigation was warranted.

However, he said “I would have serious doubts about the merits of proceeding with any statutory inquiry into allegations of crimes committed in Northern Ireland in the absence of any powers of compulsion over Northern Ireland witnesses .”

He said he would have further discussions with political allies in the SDLP and other interested members of the Northern Ireland Assembly “to see if there is a prospect of Stormont producing matching legislation to underpin a comprehensive cross-border and statutory approach to an investigation into these matters”.

Sinn Féin repeated its call that all future Nama sales should be stopped pending the inquiry.

Speaking at his party’s away day in Co Meath on Thursday, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil of providing political cover for the “robbing of citizens”.

“Sinn Féin has raised the issue of Nama at least 34 times in the Dáil. I have spoken to the Taoiseach directly on this issue. I spoke three or four times to the Fianna Fail leader on this, I actually wrote to the Fianna Fáil leader on the issue and he didn’t even bother to answer me. They voted against a commission of investigation,” he said.

“They have provided political cover for the robbing of citizens by those who are involved in improper transactions within Nama.”

Mr Adams also confirmed he would be urging the First Minister Arlene Foster to assist with the an all-island inquiry.

The Comptroller & Auditor General report into Nama's controversial sale of Project Eagle, its Northern Ireland loan portfolio, to US firm Cerberus in 2014 found that the sale led to probable losses of more than £190 million (€220 million) to the State.

It also found a number of shortcomings in the process of selling the loans - secured on more than 900 properties in Northern Ireland, the Republic and the UK - and said that the Project Eagle deal differed in several respects from other Nama sales.

The report said the price sought by Nama gave a return that was lower than the potential return for selling the loans differently and over a longer period.

“The decision to sell the loans at a minimum price of £1.3 billion involved a significant probable loss of value to the State of up to £190 million,” the report found.

It was also critical of Nama's management of the potential conflicts of interest presented by the commercial relationships a former member of its Northern Ireland advisory committee, Frank Cushnahan, had with Nama borrowers and with a bidder for the Project Eagle portfolio.

Nama furiously rejected the C&AG’s findings, opening up a war of words with the State agency.

In a statement, Nama said its board “categorically” rejected the findings of the report and suggested that the C&AG staff were unqualified for the exercise they carried out.

In an article for The Irish Times, Nama chair Frank Daly said he was certain the report would have been different if the C&AG had hired outside expertise, as it had originally intended.

Inquiries

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Seán Fleming announced the PAC would host a series of meetings beginning on September 29th to examine the report.

These will take place separately to the planned statutory inquiry.

Political sources had suggested a commission of investigation headed by a judge was a possibility, though the cross-Border nature of Nama’s operations on Project Eagle presents legal difficulties.

Independents4Change TD Mick Wallace, who has been critical of Nama, said that the proceeds of the sale should be frozen under the proceeds of Crime Act.