Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the costs incurred by the State, at the latest date for which figures are available, arising from the various inquiries instigated by or on behalf of his Department; the element of these costs which have been recovered from any of the other parties involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11277/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The costs incurred since 1997 on company investigations initiated by or on behalf of my Department currently amount to approximately €11.3 million. This amount does not include the salary costs of Civil Service staff who worked on a number of these investigations or those legal costs borne by the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor.

Costs of some €9.3 million were incurred by High Court inspectors appointed under section 8 of the Companies Act 1990, €5.8 million in the case of National Irish Bank Limited/National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited and €3.5 million in the case of Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited. In the case of the Ansbacher inquiry, the High Court proceedings taken by the State to recover the costs of the inquiry were settled out of court for the sum of €1.25 million in favour of the State. In the case of National Irish Bank Limited/National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited, the court ordered that National Irish Bank pay the full costs of the investigation. I understand that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which had borne the costs of the investigation, has recouped the full cost from National Irish Bank. The aggregate recoupment to the State from section 8 investigations was €7.05 million or over 75% of the total of €9.3 million.

The balance of €2 million represents the costs arising from section 19 examinations. Section 19 as originally enacted did not provide for the recoupment of costs. This has now changed with the enactment of the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001.