Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is interesting to see the recent focus on Siteserv and IBRC. I commend the Minister for Finance for the review he has instigated into the transaction. He has moved quickly to demonstrate that any concerns and issues will be quickly resolved. We know that Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society morphed into IBRC. Reading some of the material between the Department of Finance and IBRC, which has been released to the media, it strikes me that there was a real sense of impatience on the part of the Department regarding the manner in which IBRC was being run down. The subtext seems to be that while the Department regarded IBRC as a zombie bank that was in run-down mode, the senior management in IBRC might have had a different view regarding its independence and lifespan. Reading some of the correspondence from IBRC to the Department and some of the public commentary from IBRC sources over the past few days, one could be forgiven for forgetting that IBRC was an entity that was fully funded by the taxpayer and not market-capitalised. I am glad that IBRC was put into liquidation and that processes for winding down its operations in Ireland were accelerated. There were some in IBRC who might not have liked the pace of the acceleration of the wind down under the liquidators but it was definitely the right course of action. I look forward to the report in due course and ask the Leader for the opportunity to discuss it when it is available.