Results 8,481-8,500 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Mr. O'Connor, who became chairman in late December, liaised with my Department on the matters under discussion and they were brought to my attention. He was dealing with these matters. However, there was considerable uncertainty about the corporate future of Anglo Irish Bank until the nationalisation Bill was enacted. I advised my officials to raise the matter with the board members upon...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Mr. O'Connor, in whom I had full confidence, was dealing with the matter. Once I was apprised of the matter, I suggested to my officials that the board was obliged to deal with this matter in conjunction with the regulator.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is why the board proposed to put these matters into the public domain upon the publication of the annual report. I refer to Deputy Rabbitte's questions. He raised the question of the meeting on 29 September and the Government decision to guarantee the banking system. There was a concern on 29 September that a nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank would have a knock-on effect on the...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I received no representations from the bank other than one representation on the sole occasion on which I met Mr. FitzPatrick, prior to 30 September, in which he suggested he would be interested in taking over the Irish Nationwide Building Society.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I discussed this matter with my officials and suggested it might not be a wise course of action at the time. That was the sole occasion since my appointment as Minister for Finance on which I met Mr. FitzPatrick. I met him, of course, on two subsequent occasions, after 30 September, with my officials, to discuss the future of the institution. It is important to recall the focus of the...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In respect of mortgaging the country's future——

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The decision on the guarantee was taken on 30 September, not on receipt of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. That was an exercise to assess the loan quality of the financial institution. I met the author of the report but the focus of the report was on the loan quality of the institution. Naturally, deposits were not examined in the same detail in that report.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: No, he did not inform me of it.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The issue was identified in express terms as one which the Department should pursue. It was not even expressly identified as a risk factor in the report. When the offer was made to Anglo Irish Bank, however, in respect of the €1.5 billion, that was on the basis that the State would continue with the due diligence process with a more extensive and intrusive investigation into the affairs...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The intention is to publish the annual report at some stage after 20 February 2009. It will be published as soon as possible after that date. In response to Deputies O'Donnell and Costello, the PricewaterhouseCoopers report contains a great deal of confidential information about individual customers of the bank.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am examining whether it will be possible, in respect of the bank in which the State is a shareholder, to publish the maximum amount possible, consistent with the protection of the necessary confidentiality which must exist between a customer and a bank in an institution which we now own, and to do that when the annual report is published. The report contains 120 pages on each of the...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I did not say that.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I answered the question on the report already. The Deputy chose to misconstrue my reply and state that I had not read the sections relating to Anglo Irish Bank.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I stated that I had not read the entirety of the report, which contained 120 pages on each of six financial institutions, that I had been briefed extensively by my officials on it, that I had met the author of the report and that the matter was listed in the report as an issue to be addressed by the Department, and not a risk factor. Naturally, my concern was directed at risk factors, as...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy was concerned about the position of the guarantee and the issues were supplemented by very generous and extensive briefings by my officials on this matter. When the matter was drawn to my attention in January, I took a decision to recommend to my colleagues that we should nationalise this institution, which I believe was the correct decision. Deputy Gilmore cannot point to a cent...

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We are not bailing out the banks. In a battle for financial survival in this country, we will take the necessary decisions to protect the stability of our financial system.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We will not be distracted by cheap politics. That is not easy, but we will do it.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I made it clear in my earlier replies that I had advised my colleagues that there were issues of concern on corporate governance and that investigations were ongoing, but I did not disclose to the Taoiseach or my colleagues the particular circumstances of this particular transaction.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Deputy O'Dowd's words are very strong.

Financial Transactions (11 Feb 2009)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I assure him that my officials briefed me extensively on this report and on the risks associated with all the institutions concerned. I received extensive briefings on all six financial institutions.