Role of Eircom executives queried

Mr Dick Roche, a Fianna Fail member of the Committee on Public Enterprise is seeking an examination of the role played by senior executives in the privatisation of Telecom Eireann (now Eircom). "The information that senior executives of this company...are to receive what are blithely described as performance-related bonuses which seem to have been tied into the initial share launch and share price, is something which the Oireachtas Joint committee on Public Enterprise should examine," he said.

Mr Roche, a former chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on State Sponsored Bodies, has written to the chairman of the Public Enterprise committee asking him to investigate.

The Eircom share price of €3.90 was set by the Minister of Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke and her Government colleagues on the basis of advice from AIB and Merrill Lynch. Any serious investigation of the issues raised by Mr Roche, would require Ms O'Rourke and possibly other ministers including Mr Charlie McCreevy, the Minister for Finance to agree to appear before the committee.

The executives of Telecom Eireann did not have a direct role in setting the price although the company's board approved the price range at which investors were invited to express interest. The final decision was taken by the Government the day before the flotation.

As Eircom is no longer a state company, the committee, should it take up Mr Roche's suggestion, could not count on the company's cooperation.

Eircom chief executive, Mr Alfie Kane, is on record as saying he believes that the price was too high and that the company had advice to this effect from its own financial advisers, ABN Amro.