Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
100. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Finance his plans to sell the State's holding of preference shares in Bank of Ireland; the dividend the State has received to date in 2013 or is due to receive for the rest of 2013 for these shares; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36025/13]
View answerI can confirm for the Deputy that officials in the Department of Finance, as part of their regular interaction with Bank of Ireland management, have discussed options regarding the State’s current holding of €1.8bn of preference shares. Should an opportunity arise to sell the shares or have them redeemed, the transaction will be considered having assessed the best interest of the State. I can also confirm for the Deputy that the State received a cash dividend of €188m on the preference shares on February 20, 2013. No further dividend is expected on the preference shares in 2013.
