Michael O'Flynn and John O'Flynn settle confidential data leak case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Michael O'Flynn, John O'Flynn and the O'Flynn Group resolved their confidential information leak proceedings in the High Court on 13 December 2018. The case was against NAMA, its company National Asset Loan Management, and former NAMA official Enda Farrell.

The proceedings concerned the unlawful dissemination in 2012 of personal and business information relating to the brothers and their group. Mr Farrell received a two-year suspended jail sentence in May 2016 for unlawfully disseminating confidential NAMA information.

NAMA apologised to the O'Flynns and agreed to make a substantial contribution towards their legal costs. However, it maintained that Mr Farrell had acted alone, unlawfully and without authorisation, and that NAMA bore no legal liability for the dissemination.

NAMA acknowledged repeated requests for information and apologised for not providing it until after the proceedings were issued in 2016 and the criminal prosecution had concluded. The report said NAMA had refused documentation after saying it was seeking guidance from An Garda Síochána.

Mr Farrell also apologised, accepting that he had knowingly and unlawfully circulated confidential and commercially sensitive information concerning the O'Flynns and their group of companies. The proceedings were resolved on confidential terms, and Mr Justice Robert Haughton struck out the case.