The Department of Finance wanted the World Bank to add a warning to controversial figures it publishes on remittances from Ireland to Nigeria, amid concerns over their "political sensitivity".

The World Bank figures caused controversy in the Dáil last month when they were raised by TD Noel Grealish, who claimed €3.5bn was sent to Nigeria from this country over eight years.

Official Central Statistic Office (CSO) figure estimated the figure at €136m, or around €17m a year.

Records obtained under FOI reveal how the Government immediately raised its concerns with the World Bank on figures it believes are "not realistic".

"Through our constituency office in Washington we have emphasised the political sensitivity of the issue to the World Bank," a senior official wrote.

The World Bank agreed it would look at flagging the figures "by colouring these data points differently and including an explanatory footnote".

The department also agreed to put the World Bank in touch with the CSO to come up with a more reliable way of estimating the figures.

Furious

Emails also show the department putting a response together as Mr Grealish's comments sparked a furious row.

A department official wrote: "Deputy Grealish seems to consider that there may be issues with certain flows of money out of Ireland and the Taoiseach was very clear that there are money laundering controls in place.

"Details of those controls [what they are and who implements them] would be of assistance in clarifying whether there are potential issues here."

Internal records show the World Bank had never claimed its own figures were accurate. The department sought a detailed response from the World Bank on how its 2018 figure of $539m in remittances from Ireland to Nigeria was calculated.

An internal World Bank memo explained its figures were intended only as an estimate.

It said there were a host of reasons the figures might not be accurate, including underestimates of the number of Nigerians living in Ireland. "There is an urgent need to improve data collection on both migration and remittance flows," the World Bank said.

Irish Independent