"Who do you think you are kidding MR DUKES"

Alan Dukes: O'Brien got no special IBRC consideration

The former chairman of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Alan Dukes has said he is satisfied the bank acted properly in its dealings with businessman Denis O'Brien.

He was speaking following comments made by Independent TD Catherine Murphy in the Dáil last week.

Mr Dukes said everything was done with a view to securing the best possible return for the bank and the taxpayer.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil is calling for legal counsel representing the Houses of the Oireachtas to join this week's High Court action.

The party wants Constitutional protection reasserted over the reporting of comments made by members of the Oireachtas, under privilege.  

Several politicians, including Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe, have labelled it unacceptable that media outlets in Ireland are unable to report comments made in the Dáil by Catherine Murphy about businessman Denis O'Brien's dealings with IBRC.

Former Attorney General Michael McDowell told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that Ms Murphy's comments, under Oireachtas privilege, "should trump" the private interests of Denis O'Brien in terms of business borrowings from a bank.

Mr McDowell said he believed that the court order did not extend to the situation to cover Ms Murphy's comments.

He said: "The second thing I think a court will do is to look at the reality that the speech is now in the public domain and it will be absurd and futile to order some media in Ireland not to report it"

On the same programme, former IBRC chairman Alan Dukes said that the bank always sought the best return for the taxpayers.

Mr Dukes said: "Nobody secured more favourable terms than others just because of who they were or the size of their loan. Everything depended on the circumstances of each particular case".

Legal counsel representing RTÉ and the Irish Times will seek confirmation that Independent TD Catherine Murphy's Dáil statement about businessman Denis O'Brien's banking arrangements with IBRC can be reported on.

A spokesman for Mr O'Brien said that the independent TD's information was fundamentally wrong.

Ms Murphy has said she is confident of her sources.