Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 July 2012
86 Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the values he or the National Pensions Reserve Fund place on the State’s share holding in any of the covered institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36162/12]
View answerI am informed by the National Treasury Management Agency, as Manager of the NPRF, that the total value of the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) at 30 June 2012 was €13.9 billion, made up as follows:
the Discretionary Portfolio, the investment of which remains the Commission's responsibility, was valued at €5.8 billion (41.7% of total);
the Directed Portfolio, investments in Irish financial institutions made for public policy reasons at the direction of the Minister for Finance, was valued at €8.1 billion (58.3% of the total).
The Directed Portfolio consists of investments in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland that were undertaken on foot of directions from the Minister for Finance. Since 2009 the Fund has invested €20.7 billion in preference shares and ordinary shares in the two banks, comprising €4.7 billion in Bank of Ireland (where the Fund's shareholding is 15.1 per cent) and €16.0 billion in Allied Irish Banks (where the Fund's shareholding is 99.8 per cent). The Fund has received a total of €2.0 billion in cash from its Bank of Ireland investment — comprising preference share dividends, the repurchase of warrants by the Bank and the sale of ordinary shares to a consortium of private investors. The net proceeds from the sale of Bank of Ireland ordinary shares to private investors in 2011 were remitted to the Exchequer as directed by the Minister.
The Directed Portfolio was valued, following the completion of an independent valuation review, at €8.1 billion at 30 June 2012. The Directed Portfolio's holdings in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland comprise ordinary shares (valued at €0.0076 or 0.76 cent per share and at market price respectively) and preference shares (valued at 63.5% of par and 80.2% of par respectively). As the preference share investments in both banks are unlisted and the Fund holds 99.8% of the ordinary share holding in Allied Irish Banks, these investments are held at fair value as at 31 December 2011 in line with generally-accepted accounting principles.
