Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

71. To ask the Minister for Finance in view of his confirmation that his Department was in receipt of the minutes of board meetings at Irish Bank Resolution Corporation prior to the putting in place of a new relationship framework with the corporation in March 2012, the procedure that was in place within his Department for reviewing those board minutes, and for following up on any issues arising from those minutes, that raised concerns in his Department. [22649/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Shareholding Management Unit (SMU) was responsible for managing the day to day relationship with Anglo Irish Bank and subsequently with IBRC.

A senior member of the SMU was assigned as the point person for the relationship with support from other members of the team.

Upon receipt of the monthly board packs, the papers were reviewed and any matter arising from a review of these packs would have been escalated within the SMU and the Department.

The review of the board packs in conjunction with a review of other material and reports received from the bank would have formed the basis of follow up queries and meetings with the management and board of IBRC as appropriate.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

72. To ask the Minister for Finance the date he learned that the actual loss to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation on the Siteserv transaction in 2012 was €119 million, as recorded in the minutes of the board meeting of the corporation on 15 March 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22650/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Details of the approval of the Board of the sale and the financial impact to IBRC of the sale of Siteserv, including details of the proceeds, process and the €119 write-off, were included in the minutes of the meeting of the board of IBRC on 15 March 2012. The Siteserv transaction was announced to the Stock Exchange on 16 March 2012 and the Department received the minutes of the meeting as part of the monthly board pack later that month.

In its publicly reported half year results for the six months ended 31 October 2011, Siteserv reflected "Interest bearing loans and borrowings" of €156 million. The Stock Exchange announcement of the deal cited a cash consideration of €45.42 million at completion. It is understandable that based on these publicly disclosed figures, various commentators speculated that the resulting write-down suffered by IBRC amounted to c.€110m, being the difference between €156 and €45 million.

The minutes reflect that the board approved the proposal to proceed with the Sale of Siteserv for €48m with net proceeds for the bank of €44.3m arising from the sale of Siteserv in repayment of its outstanding borrowings. The proposal approved by the board included a write-off of the balance of the IBRC lending facilities of €119 million following the sale.

The concerns expressed by Department officials and raised by my officials and I in meetings with the management and board of IBRC in 2012, as contained in records previously released under FOI, focused on the execution and management of the sales process and whether the decisions taken maximised the potential proceeds from the sale. As can be seen from the records released under FOI the focus of the meetings was on the critical decisions taken by the bank and possible alternatives during the sales process and the proceeds would also have been discussed.   In my discussions with IBRC in 2012 I was aware that a very significant write-down resulted from the sale. In addition, both the publicly available information and the details contained in the board minute would have been known to Department of Finance officials at that time.

The assurances I sought from the Chairman of IBRC was to ensure the maximum return was achieved for the taxpayer from the sale process.