IBRC Operations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 April 2015

Thursday, 30 April 2015

Questions (88)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

88. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he or any of his officials expressed any concerns regarding the fact that the winning bid presented during the sale process of Siteserv plc was apparently presented as matching the precise requirements of the seller, in this case without any prior engagement by said bidder with the sale process; his views that such a concise bid is unusual and raises some concerns regarding the extent of information which could potentially have been made available during the sale process; if he will publish all concerns expressed by Department officials regarding the sale process, with particular reference to the foregoing element of the sale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17176/15]

Written answers

Minister for Finance

Upon the receipt of critical representations following the transaction, Department of Finance officials inquired about the transaction with IBRC management as part of their regular engagement. Following initial discussions, they agreed with IBRC's Chairman and CEO (on 31 May 2012) that they would review the available information on the transaction involving Siteserv in greater detail to better understand the decisions taken and the impact these decisions had on the process and the final recovery for the bank.

This review by Department of Finance officials took place on 11 June 2012. Through this review, Department of Finance officials became concerned with certain aspects of the transaction, which were set out in the memo's and briefing notes that have been released under recent Freedom of Information requests and which are available on the Department of Finance website at http://www.finance.gov.ie/news-centre/press-releases/ibrc-foi-documents. These documents include all concerns which my Department expressed regarding the sale process.

From these records, there is no evidence that it was brought to the attention of my officials that the winning bid to purchase Siteserv was apparently presented as matching the precise requirements of the seller.