Ministers were 'unaware' that Anglo tapes existed

Government ministers were unaware that conversations between former Anglo Irish bankers were recorded.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said he had no idea that tapes existed of senior figures at the toxic lender discussing the bank’s rescue fund and the subsequent bank guarantee.

But he said the unearthing of such tapes underlines the necessity for a banking inquiry.

“The Government has always said that we have needed to have had an inquiry into what happened in banking and in particular in that bank in and around the time of the guarantee,” Mr Gilmore said.

New recordings surfaced today of a telephone conversation between former Anglo Irish chief executive David Drumm and an executive – shortly after the Government introduced the bank guarantee in 2008.

Mr Drumm is heard urging executives to “get money in” and laughing as an executive sings the German national anthem as deposits from Germany began flowing into the bank in the aftermath of the guarantee.

[comment][/comment]

Other taped conversations first emerged yesterday between senior Anglo figures John Bowe and Peter Fitzgerald.

Those recordings took place on the eve of the September 2008 blanket bank guarantee scheme, which ultimately led to the State paying for multibillion-euro bank losses.

The pair could be heard discussing how the bust bank was seeking a €7bn rescue fund and laughing at how the money would not be paid back.

Mr Bowe and Mr Fitzgerald deny they tried to mislead the Central Bank about the extent of the funding crisis at Anglo.

Both sets of conversations – published by the Irish Independent – were recorded as a matter of procedure, as in all Irish banks.

Mr Gilmore said the degree of arrogance and hubris of the bankers highlighted in the tapes was shocking and made clear the need for an Oireachtas inquiry.

“That’s why we have brought forward legislation to establish such an inquiry and I hope that the legislation will be enacted before the summer and we can get on with it,” he told RTÉ radio.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan confirmed he too was unaware of the tapes, while Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin said he was “personally sickened” by them.

He said an inquiry would enable the Government to hear whether other such tapes exist and to bring them into the public domain.

A Department of Finance spokesman said the ``general consensus'' was that Government ministers were unaware that internal phone conversations between bankers are recorded.

He said Mr Noonan was well aware that exchanges between customers and staff members are recorded for data protection reasons – as is general practice – but he had no idea tapes such as these existed.

He said even if ministers had known about the tapes, which have been in garda possession for the last four years, they would have no authority to access them.

“The Department of Finance or a Government minister couldn’t seek to have access to those tapes,” he said.

“It’s not like asking a parliamentary question. They are being kept as evidence. It’s not the case that a minister can demand them.”