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FORMER IBRC CHAIRMAN Alan Dukes has revealed more details about the fractious relationship between the bank and the Department of Finance.
During an extensive press briefing in Dublin this afternoon, Dukes didn’t hold back in his criticism of the department and, in particular, its former secretary general John Moran.
Dukes said there were “some odd ideas about governance going around in the Department of Finance”.
He said that at one stage Moran wanted to appoint two further directors to the bank and “seemed to believe that all he needed to do was tell the Central Bank that it was okay to appoint these two people and that they would be on the board”.
Dukes said Moran was “taken aback” and “seemed a bit annoyed with me when I again pointed out to him that the process was not that simple”.
He said IBRC had to meet the people and recommend them to the Central Bank before the minister could appoint them.
“[Moran] thought I was bring obstructive,” Dukes recalled, saying he was “just following the dictates of good governance”.
Dukes said Moran, in a private conversation, expressed a wish join the IBRC board shortly after he becoming secretary general.
The former chair said he told Moran he didn’t think this would be appropriate as he would be “seriously conflicted”.
When Moran made the point the Treasury in the UK had appointed a treasury civil servant to the board of Northern Rock, Dukes said he told him that was different as he was “not the person who was in charge of making banking policy for the Treasury”.
When asked if the deterioration in the relationship between the department and IBRC could be traced back to Moran’s appointment, Dukes said:
It definitely took a turn for the complicated at that point.
Dukes, who served as a minister for finance in the 1980s, said it was frustrating that the department kept raising issues that the bank considered closed, noting this “didn’t seem to be a particularly good way of going about these things”.
The former chair of the bank said that despite the fact a new board was in place some people “continued to regard the new Anglo [IBRC] as the enemy”.
He confirmed that he and former IBRC CEO Mike Aynsley are seeking all documentation referring to them from the Department of Finance.
When asked if he thought the recent release of heavily-redacted Freedom of Information files equated to him being “thrown under a bus”, Dukes noted:
I try not to be paranoid, but of course that doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you.
He said he wasn’t currently considering legal action.
Of the relationship between Aynsley and businessman Denis O’Brien Dukes said he “didn’t think anything in that relationship had an influence on transactions with IBRC” beyond making sure O’Brien stayed a “fully performing client of the bank”.
In terms of the Siteserv sale, Dukes said he was “extremely angry” at suggestions of malpractice or criminality.
The sale of Siteserv and other transactions made by IBRC (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) has made political waves over the past few days as documents released through the Freedom of Information Act revealed tensions between the bank and officials at the department.
Siteserv was sold to the Denis O’Brien-owned Millington by IBRC in 2012 for €45 million. Anglo had given Siteserv a loan of €150 million, meaning the bank wrote off €105 million and the State got back less than €50 million. At the same time, shareholders were paid €5 million.
Noonan could have fired him
Dukes said he spoke to Michael Noonan briefly on 21 April: “I phoned him simply to tell him that I was extremely concerned at what was coming out.”
On his relationship with the finance minister, Dukes said: “As far as I know, there is no personal animus between us.”
He noted that the end of a “fairly tough meeting” in July 2012, he told Noonan to expect a letter from the IBRC board asking to reappoint him as chair.
Dukes noted Noonan could have fired him but instead said:
I’ve known with you for a long time and worked with you for along time and we’re not going to stop now.
Dukes also addressed the issue of Noonan being recorded in the minutes of a meeting with IBRC of not being confident about accounting for the bank’s actions in answers to the Dáil.
When he heard this, Dukes said he asked his former Fine Gael colleague if there was ever a case where he was nervous or embarrassed about going into the Dáil with IBRC’s information. Noonan said he hadn’t.
Yesterday evening Noonan announced that the liquidators of IBRC would review transactions carried out by the bank that resulted in a capital loss of at least €10 million.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the government has “nothing to hide” in relation to the Siteserv sale. However, opposition leaders Micheál Martin and Gerry Adams said the review doesn’t go far enough.
The Department of Finance hadn’t replied to a request for comment at the time of publication. John Moran has also been contacted for comment.
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We have found our Scapegoat yes? Moran falls on sword and gets transferred to another Dept. . Nobody loses.
Was Kevin Cardiff Dept head when all this was going on? Od his name hasn’t been mentioned
This has been a non story from start to finish. Tough decisions had to be made in tough times.
‘Tough decisions had to be made in tough times.’
Couldnt agree more. Corrupt decisons are the norm in corrupt times.
And they made the easy decision because they hadn’t the balls to make the tough ones.
In which way has this been a ‘non’ story?
But surely there were no corrupt decisions why FG are above corruption. Edna would be cross.
From Indo. anglo tapes …..
The astonishing tapes show senior manager John Bowe, who had been involved in negotiations with the Central Bank, laughing and joking as he tells another senior manager, Peter Fitzgerald, how Anglo was luring the State into giving it billions of euro.
Mr Fitzgerald had not been involved in the negotiations with the Central Bank and has confirmed he was unaware of any strategy or intention to mislead the authorities. Mr Bowe, in a statement last night, categorically denied that he had misled the Central Bank.
The audio recordings are from the bank’s own internal telephone system and date from the heart of the financial crisis that brought the State to its knees in September 2008.
Anglo itself was within days of complete meltdown – and in the years ahead would eat up €30bn of taxpayer money. Mr Bowe speaks about how the State had been asked for €7bn to bail out Anglo – but Anglo’s negotiators knew all along this was not enough to save the bank.
The plan was that once the State began the flow of money, it would be unable to stop.
Mr Bowe is asked by Mr Fitzgerald how they had come up with the figure of €7bn. He laughs as he is taped saying: “Just, as Drummer (then-CEO David Drumm) would say, ‘picked it out of my arse’.”
He also says: “If they (Central Bank) saw the enormity of it up front, they might decide they have a choice. You know what I mean?
“They might say the cost to the taxpayer is too high . . . if it doesn’t look too big at the outset . . . if it looks big, big enough to be important, but not too big that it kind of spoils everything, then, then I think you have a chance. So I think it can creep up.”
Mr Fitzgerald, the Director of Retail Banking, is heard saying: “Yeah. They’ve got skin in the game and that is the key.”
Mr Bowe’s comments in the audio recording reveal that Anglo’s strategy was to lure the State in, leaving taxpayers with no choice but to continue to provide loans to “support their money”.
The recording also shows Mr Bowe and Mr Fitzgerald laughing as they say how there is no realistic chance of ever repaying the loans.
For the first time, taxpayers get an exclusive insight into the banking shenanigans that cost Ireland our sovereignty.
“Yeah. They’ve got skin in the game and that is the key.”
What skin in the games – politicians with loans ? – What ?
Redaction ?????
It was a convenient outcome for some. Only the Irish tax payer lost out.
As usual…..
A constantly recurring theme.
Dukes…a long time FG man, might actually come clean on this…he’s not going to be thrown under the bus.
The gov seem to be in a bit of bother now
We’ve survived worse than this
Sing like a bird Dukes
‘We’ as in FG , or ‘We’ as in you, sarah, tracy and darren, Baz??
As opposed to Were Jammin/ Ciarriaoch/ Tyrone gael/Proud Irish Republican…..
At least you’ve now admitted to using multiple accounts.
Speaking of multiple accounts:
hadaby01 & janestf on twitter
Are they others you have?
Guys, give baz a break. At least he’s stopped pretending to be a girl at weekends. By the way baz, whos profile photo did you copy this week?
I’m every account on the journal it would seem.
Go away “Eric”, you’re not even funny.
That’s quite sad really…
Says herself
You really need to get a job .
@ Eric Conway, say no? Go way you Clown!
Who’s herself?
Great comeback, I like how you go for a response a six year old might come up with. Nice touch.
Eric apologise to these good people.
Sorry…..
Now leave.
*leaves*
My work here is done.
Good lad, don’t do it again. Stick to one account and you might have more credibility.
Shane Killion- Trollbuster
He has always struck me as being shrewd and honest.
Dukes isn’t going to be a willing scapegoat for this
That’s because they all go down !
The lad who faced the lorry for the Dail doesn’t seem so cracked now does he ?
Are all these politicians members of the same masonic lodge ?
No Noonan is in the Limerick Lodge according to the Rubberbandits …
Just wait and watch them squirm when they have to explain why an offer of 2.8 billion euros from the Quinn family to the Irish State was discarded by IBRC in favour of a strategy that cost us billions of euros and thousands of jobs. The sh.. will really hit the fan then. It is a matter of public record that IBRC and the Central Bank were notified about serious concerns about alleged malpractice in relation to the IBRC strategy on Quinn.
Is it just me that is skeptical of the account of anybody who speaks on this issue?…
Spin, spin, spin, spin, spin,…dizzy yet?
I wish everyone would stop talking about this. I trust the government did the right thing.
We know, Eric, you mention on every article. Something about a ”non story”. You must be the only person in the country who thinks this is a non story. It’s a huge story and our government are very afraid, and so they should be.
Eric.. Your a true blue gombeen man
Chris, can you stop using the word ‘spin’. Lies will do.
Are you serious really ! .This is possibly the the most corrupt government the country has ever had . A complete and truly independent investigation by outside experts is what will settle this.
Unfortunately all that is going to come from this is a huge bill for the taxpayer to pick up!
The bank debt pales in comparison to the public debt. We’re just clearing up our own mess really.
Eric doesn’t know anything about currency manipulation or offshore accounts or financial terrorism etc.
Bless his little foolish fingertips ….
The National debt equates to – three motorway toll revenues over x years
and the politicians hand over sovereignty without referendum (illegally) -
That’s an awful lot of explaining from Mr Dukes there.
Lots and lots of explaining.
..
So far there’s been hastily prepared RTE News interviews, flash point (one hour long) press conferences, angry chamber debate, stories that don’t seem to match up, quick investigations set up, mentions of criminality, senior department officials ‘looking’ for jobs.. What the hell is going on?
..and we still have to hear from the department of finance!
That’s quite a lot of mess for something that’s nothing (as I’m reading here in the comments section).
I have a feeling Dukes is gonna spill the beans.
Can we have the names of the people who shared the 5 million euro…I won’t hold my breath.
The main guy was named on VB last nioght – a bit of data analytics to cross reference for any off-shore accounts should be the order of the day – are ye listening Gardaí ….because we know what the DEPARTMENT OF jUSTICE IS LIKE …
Ah Alan you talk the talk did you walk the walk?
Dukes will take them down .. He has been waiting years to get them back for shafting him when he was leader
If only!
nOT A HOPE – YOU THINK THE eLITE WOULD ALLOW AN OUTSIDER TO SUCH A POSITION –
The solicitors office suggest a “line in the sand ” thinking from him and we all know where Ray Burke ended up…
Dukes….the man who became more Anglo than the Anglo themselves.
Why are the guards not investigating this,we do have a garda force,or are they all out installing water meters for Dennis.
It stinks to high hell. He says that they initially had 50 Expressions of Interest but yet they had no alternative but go with Dennis O’Brian’s offer at £ 15 million less than the French offer!! There was no deadline so this story does not stack up – it’s complete BS! This FG government is looking more like FF every day.
A reptilian of a man if I’ve ever seen one
They are corrupt, end of,so remove them with mass nonpayment and a no in endas referendums, it will force a GE,guaranteed. For enda to lose 4 referendums is a clear message of no confidence from the people in endas government. They are trying to get to the summer break still in government and then they will have time to buy votes.do not give them the time, or we will regret it.
The Dukes of Hazards.. Episode (1) The Duke holds a press conference.. Episode (2) The Duke is quizzed by Sharon (Stone) Ni Buchallin on the news… Episode (3) Censored by RTE under Blue shirt agenda paragraph 339 no freedom of information act 2014
Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and does duck poo but not a duck.
Cmon lads – Eric Conway trusts this govt & wishes people would stop talking about it because he believes they did the right thing. Well that’s all grand so – all cleared up! Cheers Eric for your non contribution.
Thankfully you are in a tiny minority because it’s clear that your leaders have not done the right thing or anything remotely close to the right thing yet again. This is most definitely not a non story – you must be worried as to what’s going to leak next from the FG cesspool & you should be given their abysmal track record to date.
” I did what I was told to do ”
5m.
” I will name the people responsible…”
10m.
” these are the names of the people who are responsible….”
20m.
” I accept full responsibility for everything….”
Am I the only one sick of hearing and being reminded IBRC formerly known as Anglo Irish Bank?
Also includes Irish Nationwide. ;)
It is very clear that Alan Dukes is at loggerheads with Minister Noonan.
To repay shareholders of an insolvent Company €5million for nothing is a big joke!
It’s the same as Politicians giving unsecured Bondholders repayment in full and putting a debt of €100,000 on every man,women and child in the Country without their approval or knowledge!
A beach of Company Law, a breach of moral Law and evidence that politicians have NO respect pair the Irish electorate.
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