Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can only apologise that the Minister is not here. I can only give Deputy Ring the script because I do not have the details. I would not have the knowledge of this to be able to give the Deputy any other answers. I tried to address some of the issues the Deputy raised as best I possibly could but, as I said, I will bring back his concerns to the Minister. The concerns are genuine and I will make sure that they are dealt with as well.

I reiterate that the current review under section 18 is not focusing on the "potential irregularities" raised by the Deputy or to a similar assertion made previously in the Oireachtas which gave rise to subsequent inaccurate media reports.

Nor does the review include other allegations, made in anonymous disclosures earlier this year, against a senior member of IFI staff that is already the subject of a separate independent internal investigation in IFI and in respect of which the relevant staff member remains on suspension. This investigation is entirely within the remit of IFI and neither the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, nor his Department has any role.

To be clear, on behalf of the Minister, the statutory provisions of section 18 are very specific, concentrated entirely on the performance of the board, and could not encompass in their scope the issues raised in both Houses - and already fully addressed in the view of the Department - or independent investigation of disclosures under way in IFI.

The focus of the review is entirely on the functioning of the board.

I can assure the Deputy that the potential matters to which he refers have been fully addressed within the normal annual control processes.

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