Project Eagle: Taoiseach rejects Gerry Adams call for inquiry

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has rejected renewed calls for a commission of investigation into the controversial sale of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) portfolio in Northern Ireland known as Project Eagle.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams made the call as he told the Dáil two people in Northern Ireland had been arrested by the National Crime Agency in relation to the Nama portfolio sale.

US vulture fund Cerberus Capital Management bought the total loan book of Northern Ireland borrowers in a single sale involving about 850 properties across Ireland and Britain for just over £1 billion (€1.3 billion), on a nominal value of £4.5 billion.

Describing the sale as a national scandal and disgrace, Mr Adams said that in the sale there were various allegations of a “cosy cartel, insider trading, payment for the golden circle and payment of illegal fixer fees”.

Lengthy discussions

Mr Kenny insisted “there is no allegation of wrongdoing against Nama”, saying there had been lengthy discussions on the issue, with Nama attending before the Public Accounts Committee. He said the Minister for Finance had made a detailed statement on the issue.

Mr Adams claimed the Minister had not made a detailed statement on the matter and said “it’s impossible to get information from any of your Ministers on an issue as serious as this one”.

The Sinn Féin leader said: “Nama is an arm of the State. It’s the people’s money. Nama is not accountable. It should be accountable and securing the best possible value for the taxpayer - and I don’t believe Nama has done this.”

He said Nama had previously claimed its Northern advisory committee was not privy to confidential information regarding the sale. But it had since been disclosed that the committee discussed potential purchasers “on at least two occasions” before the sale, at a huge loss to Irish taxpayers.

There were investigations in the North, by the Law Society, Revenue and by the Northern Ireland Assembly, which found the Government’s approach “very unhelpful”. There were also a number of investigations in the US, but “none in this State”.

Fixer fee claim

He said there had been an allegation of a £15 million illegal fixer fee, despite which the Minister had declined to stop the sale.

He told Mr Kenny that every so often there was an issue that, despite his “political cleverness”, he could not explain away - adding, “You’re like a rabbit caught in headlights”.

Dismissing Mr Adams’s call, the Taoiseach insisted the Minister for Finance had made a full statement “and there has been a great deal of discussion including Nama people at the highest level, in great length and time”.

“Nama has been before the Public Accounts Committee. They’ve given lengthy statements, they’ve been crystal clear and they’ve been compliant with the law and conditions they were set up under.”