Behind the scenes of the Siteserv deal—and should bankers be paid more?

Draft report on Siteserv / Should bankers be paid more?

Listen | 33:08
Siteserv: Hugh Cooney, who was chairman at the time, at the company's egm in 2012. Photograph: Eric Luke

Mr Justice Brian Cregan’s draft report on the sale of the support-services group Siteserv to the businessman Denis O’Brien sets out intense discussion within the law firm Arthur Cox as it came to act for both parties in the deal—a dual role that came despite “instinctive” reservations in the firm’s internal-conflicts committee and among some of its partners. KPMG, a Siteserv adviser, also had concerns. In today’s episode of the Irish Times Inside Business podcast, Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beesley has the latest on the deal, following the seven-year inquiry into the company’s sale.

Plus, Markets Correspondent Joe Brennan reports on the Government’s efforts to address the thorny issue of banker’s pay, as it seeks the views of the public on continuing pay restrictions at Irish banks that were bailed out during the financial crisis, as part of a review of the future of the sector.