NOONAN TELLS COMMITTEE NAMA IS ONLY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PAC
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has told the North’s finance committee that NAMA is accountable to the Public Accounts Committee only and no one else.
The committee wants to quiz NAMA officials about corruption allegations made by Wexford TD Mick Wallace surrounding the purchase of the agency’s Northern Ireland portfolio.
Minister Noonan had been accused of snubbing the inquiry, after he failed to respond to a series of letters from them.
However the group received a response from the Department of Finance yesterday.
Chair of the North’s finance committee, Sinn Fein MLA Daithi McKay, says NAMA’s failure to answer their questions reflects poorly on the agency:
“We are trying to get a number of witnesses before us – a lot of the witnesses are evasive” he said.
“I think that reflects badly on all of them, that they’re not willing to speak to ourselves to address the public concerns because the public – north and south – are concerned about some of the allegations that have been made”.
“And of course the fact that taxpayers’s money is involved as well” he added.
