Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has told Independent TD Catherine Murphy that "an unsuccessful bidder" for Siteserv complained to his department about the 2012 sale process for the business, which was sold by State- owned IBRC to Millington, a company controlled by Denis O'Brien, for €45 million.
In a written response this week to a parliamentary question by Ms Murphy related to whether other companies were prepared to pay a higher price, Mr Noonan said following the complaint by the underbidder in question, that company met officials from his department.
The Department of Finance subsequently held a review into the sale, which involved a write-off from IBRC of more than €100 million. The Minister said this had "raised concerns" about the process.
Assurances
Mr Noonan later met Alan Dukes, then chairman, and Mike Aynsley, then chief executive of IBRC, to discuss the Siteserv sale process. The Minister said he received assurances from them that "the transaction was managed in the best manner possible to achieve the best result for the State".
Ms Murphy has called for the Minister to release the department’s records of its review into the Siteserv sale. Mr Noonan told her this week that the records were subject to a number of Freedom of Information requests.
“[Should] the [FoI] deciding officer consider their full release to be appropriate”, the records would be given to the Independent TD, Mr Noonan said.
In response to another query from Ms Murphy, the Minister told her that the Siteserv sale process was discussed at other official meetings in 2012, including one between John Moran, former secretary general of the Department of Finance, and Mr Aynsley.
Mr Noonan said that details of those meetings would also be released to her, “should officials in my department consider their full release to be appropriate”.
Siteserv, which has rejected all criticisms of its purchase by Mr O’Brien, declined to comment on Friday. The company this month strongly criticised Ms Murphy for making “repeated unfounded public accusations” over the deal.
