I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 81 together.
As way of background on the transaction referred to in the question, following a meeting between officials from my Department and senior management of IBRC held on 31 May 2012 it was agreed that my Department would review this transaction to better understand the decisions taken by IBRC. This review took place, by way of a meeting between officials from my Department and senior management of IBRC, on 11 June 2012. Following this review, a further meeting was held on 25 July 2012, which I attended along with officials from my Department and senior management from IBRC. At this meeting, the transaction referred to in the question was discussed further, along with a number of other topics. A further meeting between the former Secretary General of the Department of Finance, John Moran, and the then CEO of IBRC took place in August 2012 at which this matter was further discussed.
The file notes, minutes and other records regarding these meetings are currently the subject of Freedom of Information requests and will be released in due course as part of these Freedom of Information requests should officials in my Department consider their full release to be appropriate. The Deciding Officer will make the materials released under these Freedom of Information requests available to you upon their release.
Until those decisions are made by the Deciding Officer, I can confirm that at the meeting which I attended on 25 July 2012, it was put to senior management of IBRC that officials in my Department had concerns with a number of decisions taken by IBRC in relation to the sale of the company referred to in the question including the decision to allow the sale process to be led by advisors of the company referred to in the question, the decision to exclude trade buyers, the timing of exclusivity and the payment to shareholders. Senior management of IBRC confirmed to me at this meeting that the transaction involving the company referred to in the question was thoroughly assessed by the Board of IBRC prior to them approving it and that the transaction was managed in the best manner possible to achieve the best result for the State.
In relation to the Deputy's query on a €10 million credit facility extended to the company referred to in the question between 2010 and the sale of the company in 2012, I am advised that it would not have been typical for decisions around credit facilities to be disclosed or discussed with Department of Finance officials unless required under the Relationship Framework which governed interactions between the Bank and the Department of Finance as these activities typically would have been within the ordinary course of business for the Bank.
Officials in my Department have also contacted the Special Liquidators but they are unable to comment on individual cases as the information requested is confidential and it would not be appropriate for them to release such information.
This being the case, I am unable to comment further on this matter.
