Officials in the Department of Finance who investigated the 2012 IBRC sale of Siteserv to Denis O'Brien severely criticised the bank's management in a memo to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.
The officials warned Mr Noonan they were "concerned at the number of large transactions [at IBRC] that have been poorly executed under the direction of [Mike Aynsley, the bank's former chief executive]".
Documents released to Independent TD Catherine Murphy, who has been investigating the €45 million Siteserv deal, show tensions over the transaction, which resulted in a loss of more than €100 million for taxpayers, as well as the sales of other IBRC assets.
Ms Murphy read the officials’ concerns into the record of the Dáil yesterday evening, including a note to Mr Noonan that “the performance of [IBRC] management in executing these transactions raises the question of the effectiveness of [Mr Aynsley]”. Mr Aynsley is currently based in London and sits on the board of an African money-transfer business. He could not be reached for his response.
Full inquiry
Ms Murphy wants a full inquiry into the Siteserv deal and other large sell-offs by IBRC, and queried whether the concerns had anything to do with the Government’s decision to suddenly wind up IBRC. She told the Dáil there appears to have been a “golden circle” surrounding IBRC sell-offs. Minister of State
Simon Harris
suggested Siteserv concerns had not played any role in this wind-up decision. “The poor management displayed in a number of these items along with the increased level of public scrutiny . . . is damaging the credibility of [IBRC] and by extension the State,” according to one departmental memo to Mr Noonan.
The documents indicate officials, who had been tasked by Mr Noonan to investigate "concerns" about the Siteserv sale, also recommended he ask IBRC chairman Alan Dukes to conduct "a full independent review". The suggestion was made ahead of a July 2012 meeting between the Minister, Mr Aynsley and Mr Dukes. It is understood Mr Noonan did not follow this advice. The Department of Finance told The Irish Times yesterday that the Minister "challenged" Mr Dukes at the July 2012 meeting over the Siteserv deal, which had been the subject of complaints by disappointed bidders who claimed they would have paid a higher price than Mr O'Brien.
Assurance
“When challenged [Mr Dukes] gave an assurance the Siteserv deal was thoroughly assessed by the board. [He] assured the minister that the board acted in the best interests of the taxpayer at all times,” said the department. Although he apparently did not order Mr Dukes to organise an independent review, Mr Noonan instructed that
John Moran
, the secretary general of his department, have a further meeting with Mr Aynsley. Mr Noonan also later arranged for one of his senior officials to be seconded to IBRC in an observer capacity. In another report for Mr Noonan, department officials seeking a fuller investigation into the Siteserv transaction laid out two options. One was the review for Mr Dukes that wasn’t carried out.
The other option was a full independent review to be ordered directly by the Minister. “This would be considerably more effective but would likely bring media scrutiny if/when it enters the public domain,” the memo said.
When asked yesterday whether Mr Noonan had ever ordered him to arrange an independent review of the deal, Mr Dukes said he would speak out “when I have assembled comprehensive responses”.
