Time Nama fully investigated, says FF senator

The National Asset Management Agency was acting disgracefully and it was time it was fully investigated, Brian Ó Domhnaill (FF) said.

A Fianna Fáil Bill dealing with transparency in the agency’s activities had been voted down by the Coalition parties, but he hoped they would reconsider their position when the Bill was brought forward again, in the light of what he was going to tell the House.

This was that two senior officials who had been involved in the HSBC violations of anti-money laundering rules and the acceptance of billions of dollars from drug cartels were now employed by Nama. Another individual who had been responsible for handing out a lucrative contract to a high-profile commercial property asset management group while in the employ of the agency was now employed by that company.

How could a government stand over the very questionable practices of an organisation that was the largest property owner in the world?

A nominee of the Taoiseach, Marie Louise O’Donnell (Ind), called on Fine Gael and Labour TDs and Senators to stop trying to justify the cut in the carers’ respite grant. They would be better off admitting the cut was not a good thing and attempting to find a speedy solution to the controversy the proposed reduction had generated. AIB and Bank of Ireland had made substantial profits, according to the Minister for Finance. These institutions had received billions of euro from taxpayers.

John Crown (Ind) said he believed there was zero linkage between where pharmaceutical companies decided to locate factories and what Ireland spent on drugs. These were two separate issues and if “an attempt is made to represent it any other way by the pharma sector”, the Taoiseach should be warned that what looked like a stunt was being engaged in.

In his opinion, the reason we had such a large pharma manufacturing and exporting presence was due to the 12½ per cent corporation tax rate, the availability of a suitable, English-speaking workforce, our membership of the EU and a degree of political stability.