€1m racehorses Allied Irish Banks lent €1 million to developer Michael O'Flynn to buy racehorses in January 2008, just months before the credit crunch, the Sunday Times reports. It also says an independent accountants report for O'Flynn Construction, drawn for its examinership, shows that the company wrote off nearly €650 million from the value of its assets between 2010 to2013.
MXSweep sold The Sunday Times also reports that Eugene Murtagh, the building materials entrepreneur, has sold an email security business to an American rival. The paper says MXSweep, a Dublin-based email security company where Murtagh is the largest shareholders, was sold last week to J2 Global, an American-quoted technology firm, for an undisclosed sum.
Cheaper medicines? According to the Sunday Business Post, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar plans to bring radical new proposals to Cabinet that will enable him to join forces with other EU countries to try to negotiate cheaper prices for new medicines. The paper says he will seek Cabinet approval to draft the necessary legislation when it meets in September.
The Post also says IBRC's special liquidators have pushed the button on the sale of Anglo Irish Bank's former investment wing, which has €1.2 billion in assets under management. A data room is due to open in the coming days for prospective buyers of the business called IBRC Assurance Company.
Housing shortage Well-known developer Paddy McKillen , has blamed the National Asset Management Agency and the State for not doing enough to prevent a housing shortage in Dublin. In an interview with the Sunday Independent, McKillen said Nama should "embrace" its clients and work with them to build more houses. Nama declined to comment on McKillen but said it was making "significant progress" towards building more houses.
Super-rich taxes The Sunday Independent also reports that the amount of tax collected from the super-rich in Ireland is rising. It says the Revenue's "high wealth individuals' business team" collected €644 million from Ireland's wealthiest in 2013, a rise of €40 million on 2012.
MS treatment GW Pharmaceuticals, the British company that developers cannabis-based medicines is facing the prospect of having its multiple sclerosis treatment blocked in England but available in Wales, the Sunday Telegraph reports. The company, where former Elan executive Tom Lynch is a non-executive director, told the newspaper it was a "travesty" that its drug would not be available to patients in all of the UK.
