Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

Some information became public this morning about AIB's sale of a Bulgarian commercial lending institution that it purchased three and a half years ago for €216 million and off-loaded last month for €100,000. AIB, as we know and regret, is 93% State-owned. What really worries me is that this information, from what I have read, had to be dragged out of AIB, which was not willing to disclose the terms of the sale last month. The Irish Times this morning reported that the bank had sold its stake in the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank for €100,000, which represents an effective loss to the Exchequer of €215.9 million. AIB, furthermore, will not confirm whether it must inject any further capital into this bank as part of the sale in order to extricate itself. This is a serious matter. It is ironic in one respect, and probably shows how badly the bank was managed, that the chief executive at the time the bank was purchased, Eugene Sheehy, said that the investment was part of its strategy for central and eastern Europe, "which involves acquiring and investing in businesses at reasonable valuations in targeted high growth markets". That says it all. To portray €216 million as a reasonable investment is erroneous, and in contrast to the portrayal of high-growth markets, it has effectively lost 99.9% of its value.

I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Finance to immediately undertake an independent investigation into the sale of this stake. Did it represent value for the taxpayer? I do not believe it did. Why was the information not made public, in view of the fact that the public effectively owns the bank? AIB has been asked to sell other assets to bridge the gap created by its debts. What other sales are pending at the moment? What advice is the bank getting, and who is giving it? The Minister for Finance and his Department are best placed to investigate this. I ask that it examine this sale and any other potential sales in the future, because the loss to the Exchequer on this sale is colossal.

My other question is about transport for cancer and dialysis patients in the HSE western region. We were told only yesterday that in less than a week, hundreds of patients who are dependent on transport to and from hospital for cancer and dialysis treatment will no longer have a service. To be fair to the Minister, he has only had his feet under the desk for 100 days or so, but this will happen next week, according to the HSE. My concern is about how those patients will get to their appointments, which are in many instances for life-saving treatment. What contact has the HSE had with this patients? What provisions does the Minister intend to make to ensure these patients get the treatment they need?

I find it abhorrent that the HSE feels it can just issue an announcement on this, as though it were a done deal. We have all in the past been critical of the fact that the HSE seems to effectively make its own decisions on these matters, but I would like to know what the Minister for Health proposes to do about this situation so that people in the west of Ireland can get the cancer and dialysis treatment they require next week. Are there any other surprises coming down the line from the HSE? Will this measure be expanded countrywide? Many people are concerned about this.

The issue of third level grant applications was raised by my colleague, our spokesperson on education. These are usually out by the end of May, but it is now 23 June and the application forms have not yet been issued to students. When does the Minister for Education and Skills intend to have these grant applications published? The next academic year is just around the corner and we fear that in view of the time taken to process applications, students will not receive their grants until early next year.