Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when he was notified by the Competition Authority of the proposed acquisition of Siteserv by Millington Limited; and if details of the sale were made available to him. [18470/15]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Many citizens have great difficulty when they see the return to the national stage of Anglo Irish Bank in the form of IBRC, the power of the golden circle in society and the influence of massive conglomerates in the State. This question is about when the Minister was notified by the Competition Authority of the proposed acquisition of Siteserv by Millington Limited and whether the details of the sale were made available to him.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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After the acquisition was agreed to by the parties involved, the Competition Authority received notification on 16 March 2012. Following this, notification of the proposed transaction was sent to me, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, in accordance with section 23(1)(a) of the Competition Act 2002, on 20 March 2012 as the Competition Authority considered it to be a media merger within the meaning of the Act. The merger notification form I received contained information that followed the format specified for such transactions by the Competition Authority at the time. As to be expected, reference was made to the share sale agreement between Siteserv plc and Millington Limited.

The only function of the Competition Authority, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was in respect of the effect on competition within the economy of this transaction. No examination or briefing was provided for on any aspect of the transactions or companies involved.

To have done otherwise would have been to act outside their powers.

The Competition Authority’s phase 1 examination of the transaction from a competition perspective and on the basis of available evidence led it to a determination that the proposed transaction would not lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the State. That determination was notified to me on 21 May 2012. I agreed with the advice from my officials and on that basis the transaction was allowed to proceed.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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It appears that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was the first member of the Cabinet to be made aware of the impending sale, and that the details were provided to him. Was he aware of the scale of write-down? Was he aware of how the shareholders were to be provided for? Did subsequent write-downs for companies owned by Denis O'Brien give the Minister any pause for thought? There was a write-down of €64 million in the case of Blue Ocean Associates, €150 million in the case of Topaz, €75 million in the case of Beacon Hospital and €138 million in the case of Independent News & Media. Most of those write-downs related to banks either owned or part-owned by the State. I understand why there might be limits to the interaction and role the Competition Authority can have, but were there paper walls for the Minister? Did the Minister have all of this information and did he share that information with the Minister for Finance and the rest of the Cabinet? Did the Minister see it as his responsibility to ensure that there was full disclosure and transparency regarding all of these actions?

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that none of those details was provided. As I said earlier, the only function of the authority, myself and the Department was with regard to the effect of this transaction on competition in the Irish economy. No examination or briefing was provided on any other aspects of the transaction or the companies involved. To have done so would have been to act outside our powers. This was a limited issue in respect of whether the sale would have an impact on competition, and the information provided to the Competition Authority was solely on that basis. On that basis it advised that it would have no adverse impact on competition in the Irish market.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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One of the difficulties I and many citizens have is the relationship between these large businesses and Fine Gael and other political parties in the State. It is a responsibility of Cabinet Ministers to fully exhaust the public good with regard to their engagements with these interactions. We know that officials in the Department of Finance had serious concerns about the Siteserv deal and that the relationship between the Department and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, had become toxic, with the former chairman of the IBRC endeavouring to terminate the secondment of senior Department officials to that State-owned bank. After many parliamentary questions from Deputy Catherine Murphy and other Deputies we are aware that there were major difficulties in that Department with the process. Why was it that the Minister, when presiding over such an unusual, strange, difficult and costly transaction, was satisfied so easily with the information he received? Were the Minister's instincts not to seek to exhaust, to the full extent, the questions citizens would have pertaining to these deals?

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The information provided to the Competition Authority, and from it to the Department, is solely related to competition impact and whether this would represent an increased concentration in the marketplace and so forth. None of the issues that have given rise to public concern was brought to the attention of the Competition Authority. However, the Minister for Finance has established an inquiry into this matter, which will be overseen by a judge. The issues of public concern will be examined fully there and the results will be brought to the Oireachtas committee for full assessment. From the Government's point of view, it is responding to the public interest concern in this regard and the Minister has made the history of this matter clear.