Denis O’Brien had €315m IBRC loan extended, Dáil hears

Businessman Denis O’Brien had a €315 million IBRC loan extended on the basis of an apparent verbal agreement, despite it having been earlier repeatedly rejected by the bank’s group credit committee, the Dáil was told.

Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said the loan was extended despite a version of the proposal being rejected three times by the credit committee.

“How is this not relevant to the inquiry?,’’ he asked. “Yet it does not fall within the terms of reference of the inquiry.’’

Mr Doherty said the inquiry only covered transactions that existed before the liquidation and were executed afterwards. Management decisions were key, he added.

He said it seemed the terms Mr O'Brien availed of from IBRC allowed him to pay down a loan from Bank of Ireland to purchase Siteserv in the first instance.

Independent TD Catherine Murphy said Mr O'Brien had sued media organisations and journalists 24 times over the last 12 years and this latest case had had a "chilling effect on public discourse".

She said she had no knowledge of anything or any information provided to her having been stolen, despite allegations from Mr O’Brien’s spokesman.

She asked how the missing minutes of IBRC board meetings suddenly appeared the same week the commission was appointed.

She said the IBRC chairman said Richard Woodhouse had been removed from dealings with the Siteserv sale, because he managed Denis O’Brien’s accounts. The minutes showed he was in attendance at the meeting and “actively participated in the discussion on the sale of Siteserv”.

Ms Murphy said she had been told an approach was made to Mr O’Brien’s company to increase the bid. She wanted to know if that was the case and if the same approach was made to other bidders.

She asked why Mr O’Brien, who was heavily indebted by €325 million to IBRC, was allowed to make significant purchases, rather than being asked to pay down substantial loans.

Earlier Minister for Finance Michael Noonan told the Dáil there was no evidence of any wrongdoing in relation to IBRC sales.

But he said he recognised “that there are genuine public concerns and these concerns have grown significantly in recent weeks”.

Mr Noonan, opening the two-day debate on the commission of investigation into the controversial sale of Siteserv and other transactions by IBRC, confirmed €4 million had been set aside for the inquiry, and this could increase if the commission was extended he said.

The Minister formally corrected the Dáil record over statements he had made during a private member’s debate on the sale of Siteserv and in response to parliamentary questions.

He had previously told the House that the Department of Finance had not received board packs or minutes of IBRC board meetings before the end of March 2012, when a “revised relationship framework” came into place, but corrected that to say the department had actually received the minutes.

Fianna Fáil spokesman Michael McGrath said there had been silence from the Government, and particularly the Taoiseach, on the constitutional privilege afforded to members of the House and the right of the media to report what was said.

Fine Gael TD Jim Daly said many opposition TDs wanted this to become a “witchhunt” against Mr O’Brien, adding that it was becoming a story about one individual and Mr O’Brien as the buyer had become the “criminal”.