Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, in response to demands for the Taoiseach to initiate an independent inquiry into the sale of Siteserv to a company controlled by Denis O'Brien, he stated he had not been briefed on the issue. He stated he would find answers to these questions. I wish to give the Taoiseach an opportunity today to give these answers. I will outline what we know.

We know Siteserv was sold off for €45 million at a cost to the taxpayer of €105 million. We also know the same legal adviser acted for both the purchaser and the seller, and that the shareholders and the director got a backhander of €5 million. We know this thanks to the dogged persistence of Deputy Catherine Murphy. We also know the bid from Denis O'Brien's company was not the highest one, and that the Department of Finance was concerned about these matters and the Minister was briefed in detail on them. Officials recommended that the Minister ask the IBRC chairman, Alan Dukes, to conduct a full and independent review of the sale. That is the first question. Why was this not done? The Taoiseach said he spoke to the Minister for Finance this morning. Did the Taoiseach ask him why he did not act on the recommendations of the officials?

Another response secured by Deputy Catherine Murphy under the freedom of information provisions is an internal memo from civil servants in the Department of Finance stating that they were concerned at the number of very large transactions, over €100 million, that were poorly executed. The second question is what these very large transactions were. GMC-Sierra, which is a subsidiary of Siteserv and also linked to Denis O'Brien, was subsequently given the largest contract to install the controversial water meters across the State, making millions of euro in profit for private individuals on the back of the water charges proposition of Fianna Fáil, endorsed by Fine Gael and the Labour Party in the great visionary project of Irish Water. There are three questions, but the key question is whether the Taoiseach will initiate a full and independent inquiry into these matters.

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