Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he is concerned that following the recent sale by KBC and Banco Santander of their 21.4% share in the polish bank, Bank Zachodni WBK, for €1.2bn, that Allied Irish Banks in which he holds 99.8% of the shares, sold its 70% share in the same bank for €2.94bn in 2010. [16285/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware the sale of Bank Zachodni WBK in 2010 reduced the capital injected by the State into AIB. It is unfortunate that the bank was required to sell the asset in 2010, however given the scale of losses incurred by AIB in recent years, the bank was required to generate capital in any way that it could in order to reduce the burden on the State.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm the current deficit in the pension scheme of Bank of Ireland, in which he owns 15% of the shares and in which he owns a substantial preference shareholding; and if addressing the deficit may result in demands to the State to provide additional capital. [16286/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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According to the 2012 Annual Report of Bank of Ireland which was published last month, the pension deficit at 31 December 2012 was €1.2bn, an increase of €0.8bn from 2011. The primary driver of this increase was a reduction in discount rates due to the significant fall in yields on high-quality corporate bonds rather than the underlying scheme assets which actually appreciated in value. It is my understanding that the Chief Executive Officer of the bank is currently in discussions with his staff and the pension trustees regarding options to address the pension deficit. I will await the outcome of these discussions, however, I do not envisage the State having to inject more capital into the bank as a result.