Ministers join chorus of criticism as pressure mounts on Neary to resign
Serious questions have been raised over how the controversy surrounding an €87 million loan concealed by former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick only came to light in the past week.
It appears that Mr Neary was aware of Mr FitzPatrick’s secret loan with Anglo Irish since last January, but failed to pass on the information to the Department of Finance.
Mr Neary has so far failed to issue any public statement to explain his delay in notifying Government officials about his knowledge of how Mr FitzPatrick had kept the loan off Anglo Irish’s balance sheet. Government sources have indicated that Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is angry that Mr Neary had not provided his officials with this information before last September when the Government was negotiating the details of the bank guarantee scheme with senior bank executives.
Mr Lenihan said last night: “I’m not aware whether Mr Neary knew or not. There are different versions of events and I’m aware that in one version of events he did. Those versions of events have to be resolved.”
He said two members of the board of the Financial Regulator will begin an investigation today into who knew what and when.
Yesterday, Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche said Mr Neary had important questions to answer over his role in overseeing the regulatory system for Irish banks.
Speaking on Newstalk 106-108FM, Mr Roche accused the staff of some regulatory agencies of being too complacent in the performance of their roles.
Too many people in regulatory agencies appear to be just there for the salaries, said Mr Roche.
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin also claimed that the Financial Regulator had questions to answer, but did not directly call for Mr Neary’s resignation.
Ms Hanafin said she believed there were questions about information Mr Neary had in his possession for more than 11 months that was not acted upon or information that was not passed on until recently to the Minister for Finance.
Her cabinet colleague, Green party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley, also called on Mr Neary to provide a comprehensive explanation for what appeared to be his “extraordinary complacency” in dealing with irregularities in the banking sector.
Mr Gormley said most members of the public would be filled with disgust over the conduct of senior bank executives and would find Mr FitzPatrick’s actions unacceptable.
Jim Power, chief economist of Friends First, described Mr Neary’s inaction as “quite astounding” given he had known about the existence of the €87m loan since January.
Questions have also been raised over the failure of the Financial Regulator to detect the existence of the €87m loan earlier, given it was first taken out in 2000.
The special committee established by the financial services watchdog at the weekend is expected to examine the level of Mr Neary’s awareness of, and his reaction to, information about the loan.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton has questioned Mr Lenihan’s commitment to underwrite the capital needs of Anglo Irish Bank and to ensure its long-term strength and viability in light of the controversy surrounding the clandestine loans to Mr FitzPatrick.
