Government silent on IBRC liquidation

Project Red looks set to remain shrouded in mystery as the Government followed in the footsteps of the European Central Bank (ECB) in refusing to release details of the IBRC liquidation.

Project Red swung into action in a panicked midnight sitting of the Dáil with the laws to liquidate the former Anglo Irish Bank being signed into law in the early hours of the morning.

However, the details of how the plan came into being and the critical correspondence between the European Central Bank and the Department of Finance are unlikely to be released any time soon as the Government claim to do so would damage Ireland’s economic interests.

“There are thousands of pages of documents which could fall under the scope of your request, the vast majority of which would not be released under a variety of Sections under the FOI Act, most critically Section 31 where the release of such records may have a serious adverse effect on the economic interests of the State,” the Department of Finance deciding officer, Graham Swarbrigg, said in a letter refusing an application for correspondence about the IBRC liquidation.

The decision to refuse access to the information came almost a month after the ECB claimed that releasing documents about the liquidation of IBRC would limit their ‘space to think’.

The president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, wrote to the Irish Examiner, claiming that any disclosure could undermine the ECB’s ability to operate.

“It is, therefore, in the public interest to protect the internal consultations and deliberations,” said Mr Draghi.