Pearse Doherty’s claims on Denis O’Brien loan disputed

Fresh claims about dealings between IBRC and Denis O’Brien have been made in the Dáil with Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty saying the businessman had agreed a loan extension after the IBRC liquidation.

The claim that Mr O’Brien had a €315 million loan from IBRC extended in late 2013, after the bank went into liquidation, was disputed by sources with knowledge of the special liquidation.

Mr Doherty also referred to fresh information about the financing of the Siteserv purchase, which he said involved a loan agreement between Mr O’Brien and IBRC “being used to pay down a loan related to Siteserv” and extended by Bank of Ireland.

In relation to Mr O’Brien’s borrowings, Mr Doherty referred to a lengthy negotiation between Mr O’Brien and IBRC after the bank went into liquidation in February 2013, saying a number of requests from the businessman for an extended term were turned down, before agreement was granted to extend his €315 million loan in November 2013, without the need for an earlier agreed capital repayment.

Special liquidation

Sources with knowledge of the special liquidation disputed this on Tuesday night and said no such extension had been agreed. However, Mr Doherty stood by his information and said if the special liquidators could point to specific inaccuracies they should do so.

Mr Doherty had said the documents in his possession showed the loan to Mr O’Brien was extended which he said was the same as a new loan being issued.

As it happened after February 7th, 2013, the negotiations would not be covered by the terms of reference announced by the Government, which end when the bank was liquidated.

Separately, Mr Doherty said that an agreement had been in place in 2012 to pay 92 per cent of all dividends which Mr O’Brien received from Digicel, the international telecoms company, to IBRC.

In fact, Mr Doherty said, when Siteserv was sold by IBRC to Mr O’Brien’s company Millington, just two thirds of a special $300 million Digicel dividend went to IBRC, with the rest used to pay down a Bank of Ireland loan associated with the Siteserv deal.

Mr Doherty said he would pass on his information to the judge heading the commission.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan outlined the terms of reference of the commission in the Dáil and set a date of December 31st for completion. The prevailing view in Leinster House is that a preliminary report is the best that can be hoped for by that date.