Paul Murphy decries '€118m rip-off' in IBRC-site-serve probe

I think it is worth reminding ourselves what the essence of this is that was being investigated, which is a massive rip-off and loss for the public, to the tune of 118 million euros written off by IBRC, formerly Anglo-Irish Bank, to the benefit of Dennis O'Brien's owned site-serve. The fundamental conclusion is that the IBRC was misled by site-serve directors over the transaction, and the phrase, tainted with impropriety, is mentioned an incredible 44 times in the report. In that context, I think it is very unfortunate that the 37 other transactions are not going to be investigated. They were identified on the basis that they were transactions where the bank suffered a net loss of at least 10 million euros each. Obviously, given the findings in relation to site-serve and what happened there, whereby the public was very definitely ripped off, the possibility that similar practices or whatever had taken place in those other instances. So, I think what I understand is the complexities in terms of pursuing some of these issues, simply to say, no, we cannot go there, is quite unfortunate. In relation to costs, which I was asked about by some deputies, from the time of its establishment to the end of March, the Commission has cost $13.1 million, but that excludes third-party legal costs that have been incurred but not paid yet. They are matters for the Commission to determine, and I do not have an estimate of that, unfortunately. Since it was established, the Commission has spent $6.2 million on its own legal costs, which relates to two senior counsels and six junior counsels that it is sanctioned to engage. All legal service fees are paid at the rates provided by the government. The per diem rate for a senior counsel is €788 a day, and for a junior counsel it is €394. The Commission also has sanctioned to engage, on a consultancy basis, the services of three independent experts at a rate of $150 an hour, up to a maximum of $750 a day. One of the experts is still involved in the assessment of third-party legal costs claims received by the Commission. The Commission may, of course, also engage counsel to assist in any litigation that is involved in as a requirement. Up until the end of March, the Commission issued 21 directions that third-party legal costs be paid to witnesses who appeared before the Commission. The amount directed for payment by the Commission was approximately $1.5 million. The State Claims Agency has also sought recoupment from the Department in relation to eight of the directions received to the value of just under €800,000. In relation to the issues that Deputy Catherine Martin raised on the appropriateness of commissions of inquiry more generally, I think we do now have the Corporate Enforcement Authority and also the Garda, MBCI, and I am not sure commissions of investigation are the best means by which to examine commercial transactions. A suggestion has been made that we have a more permanent inspectorate for public inquiries that would require detailed consideration. It was considered by the Law Reform Commission in 2005 and that listed some advantages and disadvantages. Having done so, the Commission did not recommend the establishment of a permanent inspectorate. However, it did recommend the establishment of a central inquiries office that would be charged with collecting and managing a database of records and information in respect of public inquiries. This would provide those charged with establishing and running public inquiries easy access to precedents and guidance on a wide variety of matters pertinent to their inquiry, including legislation, procedural issues, the drafting of terms of reference and administrative matters. It should be borne in mind, of course, that the Law Reform Commission report was published in 2004, only a year after the Commission of Investigation Act was enacted. Since then, a lot has happened and a lot has changed, and we have a lot of experience of how commissions do and sometimes do not work. In relation to the wider question of white-collar crime and corporate enforcement raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett and others, the Government is ensuring that we have a regulatory framework that promotes and ensures a culture of compliance and good ethical standards in matters about public and corporate affairs. For example, last year, as Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, I established the Corporate Enforcement Authority that has autonomy and resources to thoroughly investigate suspected corporate wrongdoing. We are increasing staffing levels by nearly 50 per cent, doubling the number of Gardaí, and the authority's budget has been increased by 30 per cent as well. All a Government Implementation Plan is in place to progress the recommendations of the Hamilton Review into Economic Crime, which was published back in April 2021. It sets out 22 actions to enhance enforcement and prevention capacity in the criminal justice sphere. Six of those actions are already completed, and a number are advanced. To give a few examples of what has been done, the Criminal Procedure Bill was enacted in 2021, and that allows for pre-trial hearings to take place, which will improve trials for white-collar crimes, organised crime and other complex offences, and will make it less likely for juries to be sent away during the trial, making the court's process faster and more efficient. The Judicial Council has also been engaged in relation to the development of judicial training in respect of complex economic crime and corruption cases. The Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption was established last summer, and is chaired by former DPP James Hamilton. There is also a forum of senior reps from the relevant operational bodies that was established in June 2021. That forum meets on a quarterly basis to discuss issues of shared concern, and they also feed into the work of the Advisory Council against Economic Crime and Corruption. The Competition Amendment Act was also signed into law last year, again during my term as Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, and that has strengthened the powers considerably of the Competition Authority. Budget increases have been provided to the DPP to augment staffing and resources to deal with increased workload relating to the changes in the nature of the volume of criminal investigation files received by the Gardaí and other specialised investigative agencies. Budget 2023 also provided the allocation of five extra staff to the Special Financial Crime Unit. Thank you. Thank you.