Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, when I asked the Taoiseach when the Minister, Deputy Noonan, informed the Taoiseach about his Department's deep concerns over the sale of Siteserv and the other IBRC deals, he did not answer the question directly, but he gave the impression that the Minister did not brief him on these issues. How could that be when this involved hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers' money and when officials in the Department of Finance raised repeated, serious concerns with the Minister and sought an independent review?

Then, when in 2013 the Minister was winding up IBRC sooner than expected, this was clearly a big issue. Was the Taoiseach not briefed on this then? The Minister knew it had cost hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money and hundreds of millions in gains for insiders. What did he tell the Taoiseach? We know that on 6 February in the Dáil, speaking on the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Bill, the Minister said, "I wish to acknowledge, with much appreciation, the significant efforts the directors and staff of the IBRC have made to the stabilisation and maintenance of value in the IBRC". This statement is totally at odds with the deep concerns within his Department, so how does it square with the facts we now know regarding the concerns expressed within the Department of Finance?

The Government is supposed to protect the interests of the taxpayers, yet the Taoiseach said in response to me yesterday that the Minister, Deputy Noonan, did not deal with each of the 30 or so transactions of over €100 million which are now part of the review. If this is so, is this acceptable to the Taoiseach, given that Department of Finance officials have expressed such serious concerns regarding these transactions? Leaving aside any other interpretation, if what the Taoiseach is telling us is true, does this not show gross incompetence on the part of the Government?

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