A FORMER Fine Gael TD lobbied Nama on behalf of a company co-owned by his business parter, but the outcome was a gain of more than €500,000 to the agency.
Brian Walsh, a Fine Gael TD for Galway who resigned in January, told the state agency last July that a company was falsely declaring it was not linked with a debtor whose land it was trying to purchase. He alleged that the company, whose bid of more than €400,000 was accepted for land with planning permission for dozens of homes, was either the original owner or “a corporate entity controlled by the same”.
Walsh asked Nama to consider a higher bid from Mulryan Auctioneers. He had a long history of business dealings with Liam Mulryan, the co-owner.
Following his intervention, Nama decided to sell the land at a public auction last September. A bid from Mulryans of more than €1m was accepted. It is not known on whose behalf the auctioneering firm bought the land.
Walsh resigned in January to avail of an early-retirement-due-to-illness pension. Last week the former TD said he declared his association with Liam Mulryan to Nama. He pointed out that his intervention helped the taxpayer achieve more than double the price Nama had expected.
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Nama said it had no reason to believe Walsh acted in any other capacity than that of a public representative. It said: “Any claim that section 172 of the Nama Act has been breached is investigated thoroughly. Any individual who has information on a breach of the law is required under the Criminal Justice Act to bring this information to gardai.”