Vol. 505 No. 5
89 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children the reason for his referring arrangements concerning the raising of a loan with AIB for developments at Beaumont Hospital to the Attorney General; the date when the loan was raised; the amount raised; the purpose for which it was raised; and the arrangements made for repayment of the loan. [14107/99]
The loan, for a principal of £7 million, was raised in 1981 and was used solely for the new hospital project. The loan arrangements were sanctioned by the Department of Finance in February, 1981. In accordance with the provisions of the Beaumont Hospital Board (Establishment) Order, (1977), consent to raising the loan was given to the hospital by the Minister for Health in March, 1981.
The loan was approved by Allied Irish Banks Limited to the Beaumont hospital board at triple "A" rates, repayable over a five year period. No approaches were made to other lending agencies in relation to the loan; the hospital's capital account was held by the Allied Irish Banks Limited.
In view of the terms of reference of the Moriarty tribunaI, I recently asked the Attorney General to review the relevant files to establish if, in his view, the matter should be referred to the tribunal. He has now indicated that while the files reveal nothing to warrant that they be sent to the tribunal, it would be prudent to do so, particularly in the light of the request from the tribunal to provide any relevant records. Accordingly, the files relating to the loan have now been sent to the tribunal by my Department.
