Finance Minister criticised for not including department in scope of investigating commission

THE Minister for Finance has come under attack for not including his own department’s effectiveness in tackling the financial crisis as part of the scope of the proposed Commission of Investigation into the banking meltdown.

While the work of the Department of Finance over the course of the last 10 years is to be the subject of an upcoming external review – probably to commence next year – “only” the banks, their accountants and the Central Bank/Financial Regulator will be included in the Commission of Investigation.

This, according to Labour’s finance spokesperson Joan Burton, “is a clear attempt to shield this Government from any investigation into its own accountability for blindly steering our economy and people into catastrophe, for the second time in a generation”.