Seen Or Heard

Weekend Digest

Mater Private Healthcare has won a contract worth up to €38 million to run a specialist NHS cancer centre in England, according to the Sunday Times. The company, which operates the 200-bed Mater Private hospital in Dublin, is taking over private patient services at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, near Liverpool, under a 10-year contract worth £3 million (€3.8 million) a year.

* The Central Bank is preparing a case against former senior executives and board members of Irish Nationwide, the Sunday Independent reports.

The paper says the investigation, which has been under way for two years, has identified 40 different cases where the building society appears to have broken the rules of banking. In the course of its investigations, the Central Bank reportedly uncovered unorthodox lending to both household and low-profile developers where the society may have breached banking rules.

The paper states the case could result in fines of up to €500,000 for individuals involved, including Michael Fingleton, the former chief executive.

* The chief executive of security contract firm G4S, Nick Buckles, has admitted he is considering his future as head of the company and will not take a bonus after failing to provide enough security guards for the London Olympics, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Mr Buckles also disclosed that Olympic organisers were late in sending final details of where security guards would be needed and in what numbers. In an interview with the paper he said his future would ultimately lie in the hands of shareholders.

* The Competition Commission in Britain has rebuffed a petition from Aer Lingus aimed at halting Ryanair’s latest bid for the Irish carrier, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post.

Aer Lingus had asked the commission to stop the bid process until it finished its ongoing investigation into Ryanair’s existing 29 per cent stake in the airline, but the request was rejected.

The paper says it has also established that Ryanair asked the commissions to halt its investigation while the bid process was ongoing. It argued that it was now a matter for the European Commission. Again, this request was rejected.