I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft:
Trustee (Authorised Investments) Order, 1969.
a copy of which Order in draft has been laid before the House.
The purpose of the order before the House for approval is to add the shares of Allied Irish Banks Limited to the list of trustee authorised investments. That Bank has requested that trustee status be accorded to its shares.
The investments in which trustees may invest trust funds, unless expressly forbidden by the instrument creating the trust, are set out in the Trustee (Authorised Investments) Act, 1958. The Minister for Finance may very the list of investments by order subject to the approval of the Oireachtas. The primary qualification for trustee investments is that they should be secure, and subject to this, that they should give a reasonable income to the beneficiary. I am satisfied that the shares of Allied Irish Banks meet these criteria and that they are a suitable security to be added to the list of authorised investments.
Allied Irish Banks Limited was incorporated as a public company in 1966. It is the holding company of the Munster and Leinster Bank Limited, the Provincial Bank of Ireland Limited, the Royal Bank of Ireland Limited and their subsidiaries. The authorised share capital is 12 million shares of £1 each, of which 7,700,000 shares have been issued and are fully paid-up. The shares are quoted on the Belfast and London Stock Exchanges as well as on the Dublin and Cork Exchanges. Total assets of the company on 31st December, 1968, amounted to £386 million. Balances on current, deposit and other accounts amounted to £364 million, an increase of 20 per cent on 1967. Total dividend for last year was 17 per cent.
The stocks and shares of the two major banking groups in this country— that is the Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks' groups—are the only Irish bank stocks and shares available for purchase by the public. The capital stock of the Bank of Ireland has been a trustee security since 1889 and a loan stock issued by that bank in 1966 was given trustee status by means of an order similar to that now proposed. In the normal way I would be reluctant to very further the list of authorised investments pending the completion of a general review of the existing legislation. The position in relation to the shares of Allied Irish Banks is, however, anomalous. There are no good grounds for differentiating between the two main banking groups and I am satisfied that the request of Allied Irish Banks to have trustee status given to its shares is reasonable and should be acceded to.
The Minister for Finance is obliged under the Act to consult with the following persons in regard to the terms of any order he proposes to make varying the list of authorised investments—a judge of the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Public Trustee, the Chairman of the Irish Banks' Standing Committee, the President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, the Presidents of the Dublin and Cork Stock Exchanges. I have consulted each of these persons and they have no objections to the proposed order.
