Siteserv probe is widened to cover Anglo

All Anglo deals involving losses of over €10m to the State are to be probed after outrage over the contentious sale of Siteserv forced the Government to try and quell a growing political storm.

Following days of confusion over who would conduct the inquiry, the Government yielded to mounting concerns over why serious reservations raised by civil servants regarding the Siteserv sale were ignored.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted the Government had “nothing to hide” as it was announced that KPMG — the liquidators of Anglo, rebranded IBRC — would probe the sale of Siteserv to a company controlled by billionaire Denis O’Brien which went ahead despite bigger offers being made.

A subsidiary of Siteserv then went on to win a lucrative contract to supply water meters.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin counterpart Gerry Adams both insisted that the Government move did not go far enough as they demanded a more heavyweight investigation by an independent commission of inquiry.

The probe was embroiled in a fresh, potential conflict of interest controversy as Independent TD Catherine Murphy said it was “incredible” KPMG figures had been tasked to carry out the investigation after the firm “led the sale of Siteserv”.

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However, Walter Hobbs, who was appointed by IBRC to supervise the Siteserv deal, told RTÉ that the O’Brien bid was the biggest and most credible offer and the company could have collapsed with the loss of 1,500 jobs if the shareholders had not been paid €5m.

“Given the way Siteserv was, if there had been any delay on this particular issue, Siteserv would have collapsed and 1,500 people would have lost their jobs,” said Mr Hobbs.

“When the IBRC board made its final decision, they got a full comprehensive memorandum from the team I was working with to recommend the deal. I wrote independently to IBRC recommending the deal with Denis O’Brien’s Millington unequivocally as being the best course of action for the company, for the shareholders, for IBRC for the State. My final words were ‘pursuing any other route at this stage would be highly perilous’.”

As the political furore dominated the Dáil for a third day, Mr Kenny was forced to abandon his statement to TDs on Wednesday that the Comptroller and Auditor General could carry out the review after the State’s financial watchdog said he did not have the remit to do so as IBRC was outside the scope of his powers.

And, in another dramatic twist to the saga, former Fine Gael leader and IBRC chief at the time of the Siteserv deal in March 2012, Alan Dukes, announced that he was wading into the controversy today with a press conference at a solicitor’s office after contradicting details which Mr Noonan gave to the Dáil regarding the sale.

The review, which will cover the period when IBRC was in public ownership, will be carried out by Kieran Wallace of KPMG, although the Department of Finance insisted that there was no conflict of interest in the fact that the KPMG corporate finance arm was involved in the sale process of Siteserv.

The department said the probe would be completed by August 31, and was intended to: “Evaluate whether there is any evidence of material deficiencies in the performance of their functions by those acting on behalf of IBRC, including the board, directors, management, employees and agents of IBRC and whether it can be concluded that any of the transactions were not commercially sound.”

Mr Noonan said that the probe would include any transactions “likely to give rise to public concerns in respect of the ultimate returns to the taxpayer”.

The finance minister insisted the review of the sale of Siteserv was not because he has any doubts over impropriety.

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