Eircom demands right to vet flotation files

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Eircom has demanded the right to vet Government files on its stock market flotation before they can be released. The former State telephone company has told the Department of Public Enterprise it believes it has a legal right to do so under a confidentiality agreement signed last year.

The files in question could shed light on key decisions made in the run-up to last July's flotation, including the setting of the initial public offering price at €3.90. Eircom closed at €3.75 last night, down 15 cents on its flotation price, and most of the 574,000 small investors who kept their shares are sitting on a substantial loss.

The Department has cancelled plans to make the files available this week. Following a meeting yesterday with Mr Jerry Ryan, Eircom's company secretary, and the company's lawyers, the Department has agreed to supply Eircom with a list of the files to be released and allow it to inspect any that it wishes.

A Department spokesman said its legal advice was that Eircom had to be allowed to inspect the files before their release.

Eircom said yesterday it was happy for the files to be released once it had satisfied itself that information damaging to the company has been edited out. A company spokesman said its legal advice was that all information covered under a confidentiality agreement was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

"We have a business responsibility to reassure ourselves on the issue of commercially sensitive information," he said.

The issue arose only after the Department contacted Eircom two weeks ago and informed it, out of courtesy, that it was setting up an information room to deal with numerous requests received under the Freedom of Information Act since the flotation last July.

Department officials have spent months sifting through more than 70 files to ensure that no information they believe could damage Eircom's commercial interests will be released.

The Department spokesman said that if Eircom objected to the release of any information at this stage, the Department would have to review its decision about what is to be released.

Eircom could mount a legal challenge if the Department decided to press ahead and release information that the company considered damaging to its interests. Among the files due to be released were those covering the hiring of Merrill Lynch and AIB to advise the Government on the flotation. Other files covered relations with KPN/Telia, which still owns 35 per cent of the company, and the trade unions, which received a 15 per cent stake as part of the IPO.

Reports and briefing documents for the Government were also due to be released this week.