Written answers
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Department of Finance
Departmental Expenditure
5:00 pm
Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 194 of 4 October 2011, if he will arrange for the report to be supplied. [7513/12]
Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that the following payments were paid in respect of professional services as referred to in the Deputy's question. The Department of Finance has made the payments outlined below in relation to professional services on the banking crisis.
| Consultant | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | Description of advice provided | |
| Mercer (Ireland) Ltd. | - | €3,308 | - | - | Advice to CIROC |
| Watson (Wyatt) Ltd. | - | €7,290 | - | - | Advice to CIROC |
| Hay Group Ireland Ltd. | - | €4,860 | - | - | Advice to CIROC |
| Arthur Cox Solicitors | €1,628,024 | €5,875,869 | €4,804,884 | €1,287,182 | Legal advice in relation to the Bank Guarantee Scheme; Eligible Liabilities Guarantee (ELG), recapitalization and restructuring issues; general banking advice. |
| Pricewaterhouse Coopers | - | - | €118,580 | - | Professional Fees in respect of accounting advice on promissory notes. |
| A&L Goodbody | - | €2,977 | €2,783 | €2,823 | The provision of company secretarial services in relation to Sealuchais Arachais Teoranta |
The NTMA has advised me that they have provided an aggregate figures for the NTMA and the NPRF as if they break out year by year, the figures will not reconcile back to their Annual Accounts which are compiled on an accrual basis as opposed to a cash basis. NTMA
| Consultant | Total paid 2008 – end January 2012 | Description of service provided |
| Arthur Cox | €7.74m | Legal advice |
| McKinsey & Co Inc Ireland | €2.61m | Advice on bank restructuring, (AIB/ EBS and Anglo and INBS projects). |
| PwC | €0.44m | Accountancy & Tax advice |
| Lazard | €0.18m | Sovereign debt advisory services |
| Davy | €0.05m | Advice in relation to transfer of deposits of Irish Financial Institutions |
| Goldman Sachs | €6.29m | Advice on the capital raising exercise of the four financial institutions (AIB, BoI, EBS and IL&P), following the announcement of the results of the Central Bank's PCAR/PLAR process on 31 March 2011. |
| Merrill Lynch | €7.33m | Provision of banking advisory services to the Minister for Finance acting through the NTMA. |
| Rothschild | €6.96m | Provision of banking advisory services to the Minister for Finance acting through the NTMA. |
NPRF
| Consultant | Total Paid2008 – end Jan 2012€m | Description of service provided |
| Arthur Cox | €2.18m | Legal due diligence on BoI and AIB prior to recapitalisation by the NPRF (2009) and legal advice in respect of directed investments (2010). |
| PWC | €1.58m | Due diligence on BoI and AIB prior to recapitalisation by the NPRF. |
| Sir Andrew Large | €0.12m | Trusted Advisor on certain aspects of the due diligence process. |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | €0.10m | Legal Advice |
| Allen & Overy | €0.15m | Legal Advice |
| William Fry | €0.05m | Legal Advice |
The Central Bank of Ireland has advised that it cannot provide details of payments to individual consultants due to commercial confidentiality reasons. The Central Bank has however advised that the aggregate consultancy costs related to the banking crisis are as follows:
| Year | Total paid |
| 2008 | €3,800,000 |
| 2009 | €3,400,000 |
| 2010 | €1,300,000 |
| 2011 | €29,900,000 |
| 2012 (to February) | €55,000 |
The Deputy may wish to note that as consultancy costs paid by the Central Bank of Ireland, the NTMA and the NPRF are not held by my Department, this information has to be requested from the relevant bodies. The Deputy may find it more convenient in the future to request this information directly from those bodies.
As the Deputy is aware, I do not have a role in the day to day commercial decisions taken by the boards and management of the covered banks, including in respect of the employment of external consultants and advisors. The management and board of the banks are aware of their duties to their shareholders to ensure that all costs incurred are necessary and reflect the needs to the business. The financial institutions covered by the State Guarantee use consultants in respect of many aspects of their operations. The Department of Finance does not compile a comprehensive list of these consultants. Such fees paid in respect of arrangements entered into with individual firms are deemed commercially sensitive.
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