Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2012
167. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance in respect of Bank of Ireland in which he controls 15% of the ordinary shares and in addition holds preference shares valued at €1,473 million in December 2011; if he will provide an estimate of the year when the Bank will next pay dividends to its ordinary shareholders. [45978/12]
View answer169. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance in respect of Bank of Ireland in which he controls 15% of the ordinary shares and in addition holds preference shares valued at €1,473 million in December 2011, the safeguards that he has in place to ensure that shareholders in the bank do not benefit from the distribution of dividends, or from other shareholding rewards until firstly, the bank has returned to profitability and secondly that any distribution takes account of the €4.7bn provided to the Bank by the State. [45980/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 167 and 169 together.
As the Deputy is aware, Bank of Ireland has been granted four State–Aid approvals between 2009 and 2011. Under the terms of these Agreements, Bank of Ireland has committed not to pay dividends to Ordinary Shareholders either prior to 31 December 2015 or the date by which the NPRFC Preference shares are repaid in full or are no longer owned by Ireland, for whatever reason. If and when the above restriction no longer applies, the Bank’s ability to pay ordinary dividends would depend on its level of capitalisation and profitability and would ultimately be a matter for the Board of Directors of Bank of Ireland. It should be noted that the State’s preference shares rank senior to ordinary shareholders with respect to dividends.
