Inquiry urged over IBRC’s sale of firm

An independent inquiry is being demanded into the sale by IBRC of a company to businessman Denis O’Brien which later won a contract to install water meters across the country.

The Coalition faces questions over details surrounding IBRC’s sale of Siteserv to Millington, which Mr O’Brien owns. The sale of the company led to a €100m write-off for IBRC.

Independent TD Catherine Murphy has revealed documents that she claims show the Siteserv deal was among a number of IBRC sales over which Department of Finance officials raised concerns.

The Dáil also heard claims yesterday that there were “huge potential conflicts” of interest around the deal.

The documents showed strained relationships in the department over the deal, Ms Murphy said, adding that resignations had also been threatened at IBRC.

Department officials, in briefing notes for Finance Minister Michael Noonan, said they had “huge concerns” about the deal.

These included that the sale process was run by Siteserv’s advisers, that trade buyers were excluded from the process, and that €5m was paid to existing shareholders.

Department notes showed they were concerned about large transactions over €100m that were allegedly “poorly executed” under IBRC’s chief executive, Mike Aynsley.

Ms Murphy demanded a wider inquiry on the matter.

Ms Murphy said the documents proved the Siteserv deal was not done in the best interest of the State. It seemed like a “golden circle” had been operating there.

Millington originally did not even make the shortlist for buyers, Ms Murphy claimed in the Dáil.

“If it’s a situation that a company, by virtue of the fact of winning that deal, was positioned then to go on and win lucrative deals in relation to a metering contract that was in the news at the exclusion of other people that would have been trade buyers, you would have to ask the question, why would that have happened,” Ms Murphy said.

Simon Harris, the junior finance minister, said every action taken in relation to the sale by IBRC was in the best interest of the taxpayer.

He said Mr Noonan had met IBRC officials over their concerns and the State put in place a framework for deals to ensure the proper sale of assets.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny declined to commit to an independent inquiry.

Mr Kenny was responding to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who had echoed Ms Murphy’s calls for an inquiry.

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