Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that we will not benefit from hundreds of millions of euro in dividends each year. The Minister can make the point of €273 million of a dividend last year on the basis of a 19% shareholding. Obviously, if we had the 71% that would be significantly increased in a year where the bank paid out close to a billion euro on dividends. This was one of the most financially reckless decisions that have been made in a long time. In 2022, when the public owned more than 70% of AIB, the share price was €2.32. That is when the State started selling at a more aggressive pace. The share price now is about €7. A bit of simple maths would show that, even if we held the shares today and sold them all today, which I would not agree with, but if the State sold them all today it would have made about €4.5 billion more. Through the aggressive selling of the shares of AIB, does the Minister not accept the fact that he probably lost the State more than €4 billion in the value of the shares?

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