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

I propose to share time with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Tom Hayes.

The mismanagement of the economy and the financial system by the Fianna Fáil-led Government wrecked the country. Anglo Irish Bank, more recently called IBRC, and the billions of taxpayers' money put into that bank in 2009 and 2010 will never be recovered. The impact on this country of the decisions taken by the Fianna Fáil-led Government to support Anglo Irish Bank, more recently called IBRC, with €34.7 billion of taxpayers' money has been immense. We are not talking about €105 million but about the €34.7 billion from the Fianna Fáil-led Government when the current leader of Fianna Fáil was a Minister.

Today's motion in the Dáil arises as a consequence of those decisions. The legislation that provided for the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank allowed the bank commercial freedom in its operations under the direction of its chairman and board of directors. There was no day to day role for the Minister for Finance and no reporting requirement to the Department of Finance for transactions such as the Siteserv transaction. The legislation introduced by a Fianna Fáil-led Government in 2009, in nationalising Anglo Irish Bank, made it difficult for the Minister and the Department of Finance to exercise governance over IBRC and to ensure its accountability. Under the oversight or relationship framework that applied prior to 29 March 2012, the period during which the board approved the Siteserv transaction, the board of IBRC was not required to consult with the Minister for Finance on transactions such as Siteserv and did not do so. The relationship framework was put in place by the Government of which Deputy Martin was a member and created governance difficulties for the Department of Finance. It was difficult, under this system the Deputy put in place, to hold IBRC to account.

A relationship framework dated 8 July 2009 was in place at the time the board of IBRC approved the sale of Siteserv. Under this relationship framework, the board of IBRC were required to engage with the Minister for Finance on certain key issues, which included any material acquisitions, disposals, investments, realisations or other transactions, other than in the ordinary course of Anglo Irish Bank's banking business. It should be noted that this relationship framework did not include any specific monetary thresholds which would trigger mandatory consultation with the Minister for Finance. It should also be noted that at that time the ordinary course of the bank's business was to conduct an orderly wind-down of the bank. As such, IBRC's efforts, as a secured lender, to maximise the recovery on its loans to Siteserv was considered to be in the ordinary course of business. For that reason, and under the relationship framework in place at that time, IBRC was not required to consult with the Minister for Finance on this matter in advance of making the decision to approve the sale of Siteserv and it did not do so. The Department and the Minister operated in accordance with the legislation and the relationship framework put in place by the previous Government. The chairman of the board quoted by Deputy Martin was appointed to the board of IBRC by my predecessor, Brian Lenihan, and was subsequently made chairman of the board by the late Brian Lenihan.

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