SEANAD REPORT:MICHAEL D'ARCY (FG) said it had been brought to his attention that some people hired on behalf of lending institutions to retrieve assets from borrowers in difficulty had criminal records. It was crucial that the Minister for Justice ensure people acting on behalf of such institution were correctly licensed. This had been done in regard to personnel providing security at night clubs. If appropriate administrative action was not taken, people would get hurt.

He understood there had been a number of assaults which were before the courts. The idea that lending institutions the State had supported to the degree it had were facilitating the hiring of people with shady backgrounds, or even with a criminal record, was outrageous, said Mr D’Arcy.

Seanad leader Maurice Cummins said Mr D’Arcy had raised a very serious matter. If he had specific information on what was alleged to be happening, it should be brought to the attention of the Garda and the Minister.

The Football Association of Ireland should break its contractual arrangement with the Aviva insurance company over the naming of the national football stadium, Martin Conway (FG) said. Like other members of the House, he deplored the loss of 1,000 Aviva jobs and the way the news was broken to the workforce.

Acting Fianna Fáil leader Marc Mac Sharry said it was no consolation to those affected by the Aviva decision that the company’s head of branding was giving a presentation in Manchester yesterday on the “secret” of its success. “One wonders if, within the secret of that success, is the fact that the company gets the naming rights to the Aviva Stadium for €40 million when the people of Ireland invested €191 million.”

Catherine Noone (FG) said that if Mr Mac Sharry’s figures were correct, it would be more appropriate to continue calling the stadium Lansdowne Road.