Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the commissioning of a review and the production of a report on the sale of Siteserv and other large transactions pertaining to IBRC and the decision of the Minister for Finance in that regard. I would make the point that there is a fundamental conflict of interest in allowing KMPG, which advised on the sale of Siteserv, whose personnel were involved with that company and which was also involved in the liquidation of IBRC, for which it has earned €70 million or more to date, to investigate the sale of the company. It is a fundamental political error on the part of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance. It is a wrong decision. Belatedly the Minister acknowledged the conflict of interest and appointed a retired judge to monitor potential conflicts of interest. This is the first time I have ever witnessed the establishment of an investigation which, at the outset, acknowledges that there is a conflict of interest.

While I am not casting aspersions on any individuals or the company involved, the bottom line is that this is wrong. It goes to the heart of independence and the need for an independent inquiry. The press release that was issued is incredible. It says that the Government wants the review to address recent speculation and concerns raised in the Dáil and "elsewhere". Could I remind the Taoiseach that the "elsewhere" is the Department of Finance. It was officials in the Department of Finance who raised grave concerns about the sale of Siteserv and other activities within the IBRC. There has been a lot of guff, publicly-----

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