asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the Government's proposals for the future of Irish Life plc; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
11.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish Life plc.
2.
asked the Minister for Finance if the Government has made a decision regarding the sale of (a) all the shares and (b) part of the shares in Irish Life; if so, when the sale will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to reply to Questions Nos. 2 and 11 together.
No decision has been made on the proposals for the future of Irish Life nor on the possible sale of the Minister's shareholding in the company.
I should like to ask the Minister if it is true that the matter is still under active consideration. Is a decision on the matter imminent? I presume that if a decision had been made we would have heard about it. Has the Minister taken into consideration the dangers of the many suggestions in regard to the selling off of the insurance companies, PMPA and ICI?
The Deputy is extending the scope of the question which refers solely to Irish Life.
The matter is still under active consideration. The second part of the Deputy's question does not arise.
I should like to ask the Minister if, as preparation for the Government's decision, estimates as to the value of the company have been prepared. Will they be made public or placed before the House?
I have read various estimates in the media but I do not think that question will arise until the matter is finally decided by the Government.
May I ask the Minister if the Cabinet has sought a valuation of the company or if a valuation was sought by the previous Cabinet?
The Government will have all of the necessary information before them before they come to a final conclusion.
Has a proposal in the matter been received from the Board of Irish Life and, if so, when? Is this a budgetary matter?
The answer to both questions is no. Irish Life have mentioned publicly on numerous occasions the question of restructuring the company. That information has been conveyed to the Minister through the public statements of Irish Life.
Is the Minister saying that no proposal has been received from the board, other than the Minister taking cognisance of public statements?
We will take into account all matters relating to this question. It is a matter for the Government to decide.
Is the Minister in communication with the board to determine if they have proposals on this matter or is the Minister relying on press reports?
The question does not arise. What we were asked is if the Government have made a decision regarding the sale of assets and, as I said in reply to a supplementary question, that is under active consideration but no decision has been made yet.
I asked a supplementary question——
This cannot go on.
——as to whether the Minister has received a proposal in the matter from Irish Life.
I replied to the Deputy.
The Minister said no. He said he reads the information in the papers.
That is what I said. I replied to the question.
This is a case similar to that disclosed in the last question.
I was wondering if it is necessary to get your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to speak and ask a question but——
The Chair does his best.
——it seems that such a procedure is not necessary. I do not think it is right for the Minister to say, "You are entitled to no information until we make our decision". It is then too late. What we are asking — the public are entitled to know because this is a matter of grave public concern — is what are the criteria under which such decisions will be made. What type of information has the Minister been seeking from Irish Life? Is it the case that if we get £300 million we will sell but if we get only £200 million we will not sell? Is it as simple as that or are other considerations being taken into account, such as the national interest?
All aspects of the matter will be taken into account. I think the Deputy knows that for some time I have been listening to reports from many sources, including at Government level, about the necessity for capital restructuring at Irish Life, mainly to allow them to expand further because of the great expansion that has been undertaken by the company in this market, in the UK market and, to a certain extent, in some US markets but they cannot get into all markets. That question has arisen because of the capital restructuring of the company. That is the issue that must be decided by the Government because they are the major shareholders in the company. As I have said, no decision has been made yet but the matter is under active consideration. All the necessary information regarding any decision that is made by the Government will be made publicly known to all concerned.
(Limerick East): In view of the reports in this morning's papers of Irish Life's intention to get involved in a major way in the house mortgage business, could the Minister comment on the necessity to bring forward legislation which he already promised to allow building societies to get involved in banking facilities so that all the financial institutions can play on a level pitch?
As the Taoiseach said in reply to the Deputy yesterday morning in relation to this question, it was our intention to have legislation on the building societies and the Central Bank Currency Acts amended in this session but that has not proved possible. The matter is at present with the parliamentary draftsman. The work is proceeding and we hope, in the not too distant future, to publish that legislation.
(Limerick East): Does the Minister appreciate that approximately 45 per cent of building societies' traditional mortgage business is now being taken over by the banks? Now that Irish Life intend taking half of what is left, does he not appreciate the difficulties about to be faced by the building societies and the urgency of bringing in this legislation at the earliest possible opportunity in the next session?
I do not know whether the figure quoted by the Deputy is correct but we have said for the past number of months that we were urgently dealing with the matter of this legislation and we are still doing so. In the statement from Irish Life they said they may be considering a similar type company for the Irish market in the future but what they have announced yesterday is their involvement in the UK mortgage finance market.