Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. Those of us who were then Members of the Dáil and Seanad will recall that the commission was established by the Government in June 2015 following approval of a draft order of both Houses of the Oireachtas. Senators may also recall that the commission submitted an interim report in November 2015 which raised significant issues regarding legal professional privilege, banking confidentiality and its terms of reference. As a result, following consultation with all Oireachtas parties, bespoke legislation was enacted in 2017 to provide a new legal basis for the commission.

As the Minister of State pointed out, we are now seven years on and only last month the Taoiseach published the 1,500 page report of the commission of investigation on the IBRC transaction relating to Siteserv and the principles and policies in IBRC on interest rates. The Government accepts the findings of the commission. It believes the report shines a light on unacceptable practices by certain parties during the course of the transaction. It focuses on the soundness of one of the transactions. In this regard the commission has determined it can be concluded that the bank made its decision to approve the sale of the Siteserv group in good faith but this was based on misleading and incomplete information provided to it by the company.

As the Minister of State said, the commission found there were two parallel processes during the sale. There was the above surface process organised by Siteserv and its advisers in which the company chose bidders, evaluated the bids, decided to grant exclusivity to one bid and then signed and completed the sale. As the Minister of State pointed out, the below the surface process was where certain events occurred in the course of the Siteserv sale process without the knowledge of the bank. This below the surface process meant steps were taken and decisions were made in the course of the Siteserv process in a manner that was manifestly improper and which undermined the integrity of the Siteserv sale process.

The commission makes a number of highly critical findings about certain individuals working for or involved with Siteserv plc. It does not make any critical finding of Mr. O'Brien. The commission has also determined that it can be concluded that the transactions were not conducted in a manner that was reasonable from the perspective of bank and that decisions were made and actions taken in the course of the transaction that were not reasonable from the perspective of the bank. The outcome of the transactions was also not reasonable from the perspective of the bank. The commission has also determined that it can be concluded that the Siteserv transaction was, from the perspective of the bank, so tainted by impropriety and wrongdoing that the transaction was not commercially sound.

The report states the bank could have recovered up to €8.7 million more than the €44.3 million it agreed to accept in the sale. The headline price of the alternative bidder for Siteserv was €4 million more than the headline bid of Mr. O'Brien. That could have been pursued. The company agreed with Mr. O'Brien a reduction in the sale of the proceeds of €1.8 million through working capital adjustments. There is no evidence that a rival bidder would not have been given the same adjustments. Siteserv directors awarded themselves and other directors bonuses that cost the company more than €800,000. These bonuses should never have been paid. The company did not need to pay the sum of €5 million to its shareholders and could have obtained their consent to the transaction with a payment of €2.1 million less.

The report goes into other areas, with regard to the procedures and controls in IBRC share trading, interest rates and interactions between the IBRC and the Department of Finance. As the Minister of State said, and as all of us have said, the Government accepts the findings of the commission. It believes the report shines a light on unacceptable practices by certain parties during the course of the transaction. I welcome the news that the Taoiseach is arranging to bring relevant recommendations made by the commission in its report to the attention of the relevant Departments and sections.