Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 October 2011
51 Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Finance the measures open to him either through retroactive legislation or current legislation to claim back expenses that were paid to bank officials after the bank guarantee was granted by the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28054/11]
View answerThere are constitutional and legal difficulties to be addressed when considering whether to introduce retrospective legislation. In principle it is an area fraught with difficulty and not one to be pursued lightly. It is incumbent on any organisation where it has been alleged that expenses have been misappropriated to pursue the recovery of such funds by whatever means available taking all relevant matters into consideration, e.g. materiality, cost of recovery. Where appropriate this may involve the use of legal proceedings under existing legislation.
If the Deputy has specific evidence of alleged wrongdoing he should bring such matters to the attention of the relevant authorities.
52 Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the expenses claimed by the former chief executive of Irish Nationwide Building Society (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28059/11]
View answerFollowing the merger of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, the bank wrote to Mr. Fingleton requesting repayment of a €1million bonus, received post the introduction of the Irish Government's Bank Guarantee Scheme, and the return of a watch given to him on retirement which was paid for by the Society. The bank has recently written again, following a response from Mr. Fingleton who declined the request, reiterating the call for action in those matters and has raised a further matter of inappropriately recorded expenses to the value of close to €88,000. The bank strongly believes that Mr. Fingleton needs to take the honourable course of action in the interest of the Irish taxpayer with regard to the Bonus and the watch regardless of whether there is any legal obligation to do so. With regard to the expenses that appear to have been inappropriately claimed by Mr Fingleton, the Bank will continue to pursue Mr Fingleton and will use legal means if he continues to ignore the Bank's requests.
The Government fully supports this endeavour. It is a matter for the Bank to decide on an appropriate course of action if these issues with Mr. Fingleton remain unresolved. The bank has informed me that the specific matter referred to by the Deputy forms part of the bank's investigation into all legacy matters relating to INBS following the merger of that institution with the Bank on July 1st of this year. The Bank will address all issues arising from this investigation once concluded.
