Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for his personal good wishes to me. As the House will no doubt be aware, it was announced yesterday evening that a significant shareholder in Bank of Ireland, Wilbur Ross and Co, was selling the remaining 1.8 billion shares it held in the bank by way of a placing in the market. Subsequently, it was confirmed this morning that Mr. Ross's shares have all been sold at a price of 26.5 cent per share generating proceeds of €475 million. Mr. Ross has now sold his entire investment in the bank and will now step down from the board of Bank of Ireland.

It is worth recalling that the State secured this investment for Ireland at a time when few other investors were prepared to invest. The State has benefited from the large private sector investment in Bank of Ireland. This investment reduced the risk the taxpayer had to take on board back in 2011 to support the banking sector at what was a very difficult time for the State.

Ireland is now in a completely different place. Slowly but surely our reputation has been restored and Mr. Ross's investment has been followed by billions of euro worth of investment from others into Ireland, particularly in the past 12 months. There is no doubt that this investment in 2011 was a significant boost to the Irish economy and garnered investor confidence in the recovery. As a result of the billions of euro in investment secured since 2011 we have managed to remove significant risks to the Irish taxpayer.

The liquidation of IBRC has been very successful with 90% of the assets being sold to private investors to date. NAMA has attracted significant investment and the chairman informs me that it will have repaid 50% of its senior debt by year end - two years ahead of target. Investment interest in Irish assets remains strong, our credit rating has been upgraded by all the rating agencies. For example, we are now rated A by Standard & Poor's.

The recovery in the bank's share price since mid 2011 has benefited the taxpayer directly in a very tangible way. The recovery enabled the State to exit its coco and preference shares in the bank at a profit while our remaining equity investment is worth €1.2 billion. As I said last December, when one includes the income received by the State for the guarantees it provided, the State has recouped a net positive cash return of over €1 billion from its overall support and investment in the bank and this is before one takes into account our remaining shares.

Bank of Ireland is now profitable and generating capital while I am pleased to say that our investment in AIB is also making similar progress. The State remains an important and supportive shareholder in the bank and we will manage this investment in the best interests of the taxpayer. How does this particular transaction influence our investment? Well it is certainly encouraging that such a significant amount of shares could be sold in the market and it fully removes the perception of an overhang from Mr. Ross. This is, after all, the third successful placing of shares in the bank in the past six months so it really demonstrates a continued very strong interest in Irish assets.

It also improves the depth and spread of shareholders in the bank which augurs well for when we decide to sell some or all of our stake. I note the comments from Fairfax Financial Holding's CEO, Mr. Prem Watsa, one of the other investors from the 2011 consortium, about him being a long-term shareholder in the bank. That should help minimise any short-term indigestion in the market for the shares in the coming weeks. Finally, when it comes to our remaining shares, we will bide our time and I have no current plans to start selling down our investment.

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