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Documents show Martin Mc Guinness knew about NAMA NI portfolio sale

Committee members have also claimed attempts are being made to “muzzle” its work, after members were cautioned by civil servants about dealing with Nama today.

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“He was kept in the dark of the nature and extent of meetings and correspondence on this matter”.

John Deasy said he could not see how the publication of the documentation would frustrate the committee’s work.

PAC chairman John McGuinness said there are concerns the sale of the Project Eagle portfolio was not competitive.

They are being questioned about the £1bn sale of NAMA’s Northern Ireland loans book, known as Project Eagle, following claims by Independent TD Mick Wallace that a £7m payment in an off-shore account was earmarked for an NI politician.

“This looks and feels like a manoeuvre by the minister in advance of the meeting”, she said.

Pimco was in the running for the loan book until the firm’s compliance staff informed Nama that a former adviser from the agency, Frank Cushnahan, stood to earn €5m in fees should the company win the bid.

This morning the PAC received a letter from Mr McGuinness saying that in light of the release of the documents, he wished to appear before the committee.

In a statement, Sinn Féin said the conference call was a matter of public record which Mr McGuinness highlighted in his evidence last week to Stormont’s Finance Committee.

Document 39, available at finance.gov.ie, is a note on a January 14, 2014, conference call between Finance Minister Michael Noonan, Mr McGuinness and Mr Robinson to outline the progress of the lucrative Nama assets sale.

Peter Robinson will confirm by close of business on Thursday whether he will appear before a Stormont Finance Committee examining the sale of the NAMA portfolio in the North, the committee’s chairman, Daithí McKay, has said.

“It goes against good practices of accountability”, he said.

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“If that’s meant to intimidate us it doesn’t”, he added. “All the public wants, north and south, is the truth”.

Martin McGuinness' was not kept in the dark' over €1.6bn Nama sale