Noonan defends ‘sweetener’ of €5m

The controversial decision to give shareholders in the bankrupt firm Siteserv a €5m “sweetener” as taxpayers took a massive loss on its sale has been defended by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.

As the Government came under intensive fire for its handling of the sell-off by IBRC — formerly Anglo Irish Bank — which left the State €105m down, Mr Noonan insisted he did the best job he could.

While Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the deal would be examined by the Comptroller & Auditor General, opposition parties called for a more far-reaching probe into the affair.