Nama NI sale: Frank Cushnahan says he was 'never party' to £5m deal

The man at the centre of the Nama controversy has said he was "never a party" to an agreement which would have led to him being paid £5m.

Frank Cushnahan was appointed to Nama's Northern Ireland advisory committee in 2010 and served until November 2013.

He later worked with the Pimco fund which was interested in buying Nama's Northern Ireland property portfolio.

Pimco's bid collapsed after it found out he was to share in a success fee it had intended to pay to legal advisors.

The National Assets Management Agency (Nama) was set up to deal with impaired loans that were damaging Irish banks after the 2008 financial crash.

Nama's sale of its entire Northern Ireland property loan portfolio and the process leading up to it has been the subject of allegations.

In a statement given to Dublin's Sunday Independent newspaper, Mr Cushnahan said: "It has been suggested that, in the event of the purchase of the loan book by Pimco, I was to receive £5m.

"I was never a party to any such agreement."

He went on to say that he was never "a paid advisor" to Pimco, but understood "there was the possibility" the fund could appoint him to an executive role after it had bought the portfolio.

A report by Ireland's Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) disclosed that Mr Cushnhan was a consultant to seven different Nama debtors.

Mr Cushnahan declared his interests at Nama meetings and in annual declarations as required.

Nama has said meetings attended by Mr Cushnahan never involved the disclosure of debtor-specific information.

But the C&AG said potential conflict of interests arose that "would not be managed sufficiently" just by withholding debtor-specific information.

Mr Cushnhan said: "Those responsible for appointing me to the Nama Advisory Committee and those in charge of Nama were fully aware at the time of my appointment of the fact that I was an advisor to a number of Nama debtors.

"I am pleased that the report of the C&AG acknowledges that fact.

"In other words, to the extent that there was ever a conflict between my role as an advisor and my other roles within Northern Ireland at that time, it was always disclosed and known."

Nama has reported Mr Cushnahan to Republic of Ireland's ethics watchdog, the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo), over what it believes were other undeclared conflicts of interest.

These matters are not directly addressed in Mr Cushnahan's statement.

Mr Cushnahan also comments on the BBC NI Spotlight programme which broadcast a recording made in 2012 in which he accepted a £40,000 cash payment from a Nama debtor, John Miskelly.

Mr Cushnahan states: "I was asked to assist Mr Miskelly at a time when I was informed that Mr Miskelly was terminally ill.

"All dealings that I had with Mr Miskelly were entirely lawful, a fact that has subsequently been conceded in a further public statement by Mr Miskelly."