John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I will try to be as detailed as I can. In October 2006, the authority sought sanction for borrowings of up to €127 million for the purposes of property acquisition, particularly in connection with the impending acquisition of the IGB site. Consent for this sanction request was sought by my Department to the Department of Finance and was subsequently received on the basis that repayments would be wholly from the authority's own resources without recourse to the Exchequer. The Department of Finance also consented to the authority taking a shareholding in a special-purpose company to facilitate the joint venture development of the site. Neither the Minister for Finance nor I had any direct role in approving or authorising the authority to purchase the IGB, nor did either Minister have any role in approving the final purchase price. As long as the authority operates within its €127 million sanction, it is mandated to make independent commercial decisions, which is an important aspect the Deputy needs to keep in mind. A €288 million loan to Becbay Limited, the consortium developing the former Irish Glass Bottle site, was provided jointly by Anglo Irish Bank and AIB. It is non-recourse loan, largely secured against the land, with the exception of the €111.9 million that is secured by guarantees of three shareholders, Mr. Bernard McNamara, Mr. Derek Quinlan and the authority in proportion to their respective shareholdings.

As I said earlier, as a 26% shareholder in the Becbay joint venture, the authority has guaranteed liabilities of €29.1 million as well as a liability of 26% of interest accruing. The authority considered it necessary to become involved in the purchase of this site because of its key location on the Poolbeg Peninsula, and it has, as the Deputy knows, significant development potential. To be a 26% shareholder in this acquisition was the minimum amount necessary to ensure the authority retained sufficient influence and control over the development.

The figure I saw thrown out in the media of a €500 million cost to the taxpayer - I have seen this in newspapers and it has been quoted by the Deputy at press conferences - is very misleading. To suggest that in some way the Dublin Docklands Development Authority has exposed the Irish taxpayer to the full risk of this venture is not correct. The authority is a 26% shareholder and we need to keep that in mind at all stages.

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