Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to come back in. I will refer to a newspaper article that referenced companies that have been in receipt of pandemic subsidies and have subsequently paid out dividends. One company in particular - it is named in the article so I will name it here - O'Flaherty Holdings, which made operating profits of €10 million in 2020 through MML Holdings, paid the dividend to a company registered in the Isle of Man. This was the exact same amount, coincidentally, the company states, as the subsidies that it was paid. It appears that this is only a breach of the spirit of the intention of the scheme and not an actual breach. Although the Minister may have indicated initially that he believed it might be a breach, when he checked it apparently was not.

Do the officials have a view on companies that are doing this? By all accounts, I am pretty sure that the company referenced is not alone in doing this. If the State is paying subsidies, do the witnesses have a view on what the company's obligation should be? In this specific case, the amount of the pandemic subsidy directly matches the amount paid in dividends to a holding company in the Isle of Man, which to me is a clear breach, certainly of the spirit of the scheme. It is regrettable if it is not a breach of the law. Do the officials have a view on that practice?