Shatter: Greens should be cut out of NAMA debate

FINE Gael has called for the Green Party to be cut out of the public debate on NAMA (National Asset Management Agency) for failing to send any of its leaders to quiz Finance Minister Brian Lenihan at the Oireachtas committee hearing on the plan.

Deputy Alan Shatter said the Green Party postured during the summer, but was unable to provide a representative to help interrogate the minister on issues of concern. He said the party’s elected representatives should be ignored by media organisations for lacking credibility. “Having thrown media shapes during the month of August in which they sought to identify with the growing public concern over NAMA, the credibility of Green ministers and Oireachtas members such as Minister Eamon Ryan and Senator Dan Boyle is now in tatters as a consequence of the failure of a single Green to attend or participate in the meeting,” he said.

A spokesman for the Green Party said it was not considered necessary for them to sit in on the meeting because they had other ways to influence policy. “The Green Party is working closely with its Government partners on NAMA. There are at least daily contacts with Finance Minister Brian Lenihan on the issues.