Irish members of the Automobile Association (AA) will be hard done by if the buyout by British company Centrica goes ahead, according to some members. After hearing the AA spokesman, Mr Conor Faughnan, discussing the benefits of the sale on the radio, Mr B from Phibsborough emailed Family Money expressing his concern.

"One of the benefits highlighted was the possible cash handout of £240 sterling [€282] approximately across the board," said the reader. However, Irish members are not being offered everything their counterparts in the UK are being offered, he says.

"We are not being facilitated with our `windfall' being converted to shares in the new private company. Neither are we being offered, on choice, any of the benefits being offered to our English chums as per part 5: Details of Benefits from Centrica."

Mr B urges Mr Faughnan to "explain adequately the disparities for those members who always felt part of one big organisation?"

Another reader, Mr M from Dublin rang in to say: "As a member I can vote at the meeting to sell the AA, but am excluded from becoming a shareholder just because I'm Irish."

Although no one is excluded from buying shares with their windfall, documentation sent to voting and eligible members from AA headquarters in Hampshire says: "For those Eligible Members with registered addresses in the United Kingdom who wish to invest all the money they receive from the acquisition in Centrica shares, Centrica has arranged a low-cost share purchase facility."

Another section says: "We intend to make available an attractive range of discounts on various Centrica and AA products and services to eligible members in mainland Great Britain who are individuals on the first renewal of their AA roadside cover following completion."

Mr Faughnan maintains that Irish AA members have identical voting rights as British AA members and if the sale goes through they will receive the same cash amount as their British counterparts.

Complications in Irish securities law have prevented the offer of shares in exchange for the payout cheque here, he said.

"British members may choose to purchase Centrica shares with their cash payment via a low-cost share purchase facility. This facility had not been offered in the Republic of Ireland because of the differences in Irish law.

The law in question is the EC (Transferrable Securities and Stock Exchange) Regulation 1992. However, Irish members will receive the exact same cash payment as members in the UK, and can use this payment to purchase shares in the usual way." The low-cost share purchase facility is available to those residing in Northern Ireland.

Price reductions on various Centrica and AA products are "marketing-type discounts only offered where Centrica provides gas, namely England, Scotland and Wales", says Mr Faughnan.

The Irish Stock Exchange's head of listing, Ms Gerardine Jones, confirmed that there is a complication in Irish securities legislation that has led to this difficulty in the past.

The general problem is with non-Irish registered companies, she said. When recommended European legislation was introduced into Irish law as EC (Transferrable Securities and Stock Exchange) Regulation 1992 it was implemented in a way that made it appear that there were many processes involved in the issuing of Irish shares.

Under the legislation, there are procedures to be gone through to register a prospectus but they are not prohibitively problematic, she said.

"There are a number of Irish shareholders who have been excluded in the past. We usually call the company to say steps can be taken to include them but you must talk to an Irish lawyer," Ms Jones said.

More than 90,000 Irish AA members may be eligible to vote on the Centrica buyout in September's general meeting.