AIB has not always stayed mum on distressed debt cases

TDs and Senators on the Oireachtas finance committee angling to have AIB in before them to explain how former Kilkenny hurling legend DJ Carey secured a 99 per cent write-down on €9.5 million of borrowings know all too well that the bank will seek to stick to the line that it cannot comment on individual customers.

But they don’t need to look very far to see that AIB hasn’t a 100 per cent record on staying mum on distressed debt cases.

When former TD and government minister Ivan Yates claimed in an interview with the Sunday Independent a little over a decade ago that AIB had “harassed and intimidated” and sought “to make an example” out of him over a multimillion-euro debt, the bank was swift to react.

[ AIB urged to explain 99% debt write-down for DJ Carey ]

AIB issued a statement to media outlets at the time saying that it noted “with disappointment” the comments attributed to the former politician and that it “had originally sought, in good faith, to negotiate a solution with Mr Yates”.

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The bank, in which the State has held a majority stake since 2010, added that it must “at all times” seek to “ensure an appropriate economic outcome for the bank and, by extension, the Irish taxpayer”.

The debts arose from personal guarantees Yates had given AIB on loans to his one-time gambling business, Celtic Bookmakers, which collapsed in 2011 and led ultimately to him being declared bankrupt by a Welsh court the following year.

AIB, to be sure, only commented after the other side to that dispute bemoaned his treatment by the bank.

[ AIB to remove spending tracker service from app ]

And, as of yet, Carey has not said anything publicly since RTÉ Prime Time reported last week about the debt-relief deal he struck with AIB in 2017. It came six years after the bank secured a High Court judgment for €9.5 million, most of which arose from a €7.85 million loan to Carey relating to properties in Mount Juliet in Co Kilkenny and the K Club in Co Kildare.

But if the Oireachtas finance committee decides this week to call AIB executives in to discuss the Carey case, the bankers cannot say that they never comment on individual cases.