Vol. 545 No. 2
51 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Finance the information available to his Department on the progress of discussions between the ACC Bank and a company (details supplied) regarding the possible takeover of the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29960/01]
As the Deputy may be aware, in a reply to a parliamentary question on 24 October tabled by Deputy Howlin, I informed the House that the board of ACC Bank plc had recommended to me that it should proceed to sale contract negotiations with Rabobank Nederland and that I had approved its recommendation. I also stated that I was looking forward to receiving the board's recommendation following completion of the negotiations. I am still awaiting this recommendation. Meanwhile, contract negotiations are ongoing between the two banks and it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any way on these negotiations until such time as they are completed and I have received the recommendation from the board.
The terms of an ESOP have been recommended to me by the board of the bank and an information process is in train between management and staff. It is intended that the staff of the bank will be balloted shortly. The ESOP is in line with the State bodies guidelines in relation to ESOPs with 5% being given for transformation, flexibility and commitment to change and the 9.9% is being purchased for fair value by the staff and part of this will be funded by a loan.
If the board's recommendation in relation to the potential sale to Rabobank is acceptable, I will take the matter to Government and, in due course, under section 5 of the ACC Bank Act, 2001, I will seek a motion of approval from the House before proceeding with the sale of my shares in the bank. As previously stated, details of the board's recommendation will then be given to each member of the House, prior to the date of the motion, to allow Deputies reach a fully informed view.
