State: Transfer of McKillen loans to NAMA 'not irrational'
The State's lawyers say property developer Paddy McKillen's challenge to NAMA is based on extravagant formulations of legal principles.
As the legal challenged continued today in the Commerical Court, the State's legal team said their expert economic evidence indicates that the transfer of Mr McKillen's loans to NAMA would not be an irrational decision.
Mr McKillen claims the transfer of €211m of his Bank of Ireland loans to the agency would be in breach of his constitutional rights.
His defence team had earlier objected to the manner in which the Attorney General Paul Gallagher dismissed the evidence of some of their financial experts.
Mr Gallagher, Senior Counsel for the State in the case, today said that "no credibility" should be placed on the statement of US banking expert Joe Belanger, one of a number of financial experts who have made legal statements in support of Mr McKillen.
The AG said Mr Belanger did not consider the fact that the banks on which Mr McKillen depended would not be in business without huge state support.
Mr Gallagher said if the banks had gone into liquidation the loans would have been sold off without consultation.
He said it was astounding that none of the financial experts had addressed that issue.
Mr McKillen's defence team took issue with the AG's description of Mr Belanger's evidence, but the three-judge court however said it was appropriate for Mr Gallagher to refer to what shortcomings he may perceive to be in their evidence.
