Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2019
140. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to and his views on whether it is appropriate that a bank (details supplied) as a majority State owned institution, has contracted services from a company that is one of the biggest arms manufacturers in the world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19228/19]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, AIB is an independent company with listings on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. Decisions in regards to contracting are the sole responsibility of the board and management of AIB which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The bank's independence is protected by a Relationship Framework which is a legally binding document that cannot be changed unilaterally. This framework which is publicly available, was insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market. The AIB Relationship Framework can be found here: www.gov.ie/en/publication/597d15-aib-relationship-framework-agreement-june-2017/
