John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That leads to my second question which relates to the information flow between IBRC and the Department. The document with responses to questions posed to the Minister for Finance in preparation for today's meeting of the committee states the shareholding management unit, SMU, within the Department was responsible for managing the day-to-day relationship with IBRC and that the SMU had daily instructions with the senior management team in the bank on a wide variety of issues, including the bank's performance, progress in deleveraging and various consent and consultation requests. The reply also states formal monthly meetings were held between the SMU and senior management of the bank. Did the SMU take notes on these interactions and is there any documentation on them in the Department? Given the scale of the loans outstanding and the cost implications for taxpayers, I would have expected the Department to have kept meticulous records of such transactions.

Did the Department have an internal reporting system to senior departmental management and the Minister on the monthly progress of IBRC operations? From what original source documents were such reports prepared and circulated? Again, given the scale of the loans outstanding and the cost implications for taxpayers, I would expect the Department to have had in place the means to ensure the Minister was fully and regularly briefed on the key operations and other decisions of IBRC. There is an amazing blank timeframe from August 2011 to 8 February 2012 when nothing appears to have happened.