Potential inquiry into Nama’s Project Eagle presents many political footballs but few final results

We may need an inquiry into Nama’s Project Eagle sales in the North, but why is the State run in a manner that necessitates inquiries to get at the truth, asks Michael Clifford.

TO commission an inquiry or to decommission the culture of inquiries? That is the Nama question. In the coming weeks, there is going to have to be a decision on whether to subject Nama to the full monty of inquiries, a commission on investigation.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is due to publish a report into its inquiry of the sale of Nama’s Northern Ireland assets, which is mired in controversy. Project Eagle, as it was known, involved a major writedown, a rushed sale, a possible loss of €220m, an Isle of Man bank account stuffed with £7m, and reports that twice that amount was to be paid to middlemen.