Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

In September 2006, Shannon Foynes Port Company initiated an internal investigation into allegations made against two members of the board. This led to a number of related legal disputes and the investigation was suspended on foot of this. In October 2007, a confidential out of court settlement was reached between the parties. This process was very costly for the company.

In December 2006, the company also engaged Deloitte as internal auditors to the company. Deloitte & Touche carried out a corporate governance review of specific transactions and processes. The company subsequently forwarded a copy of the Deloitte report to my Department.

The report is confidential and is not intended for publication. It contained a number of recommendations for improving corporate governance procedures in the company and the board has confirmed that these have been implemented. The confidentiality of the report must be respected. To make public the Deloitte report would achieve little other than to expose the company potentially to further costly legal proceedings relating to the confidential settlement.

I have also received correspondence from third parties regarding alleged historical inappropriate corporate behaviour which I have forwarded to both An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. If any party has evidence of an alleged breach of the law, they should bring such evidence to the attention of An Garda Síochána.

In September 2008, I appointed a new chairperson and five other directors to the board of the company. These new appointments have provided renewed leadership and strategic direction to the company.

My Department continues to closely monitor the company's performance in accordance with normal corporate governance practice.

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