Calls for taoisigh to face televised inquiry

BRIAN COWEN and Bertie Ahern should be summoned before a televised Oireachtas inquiry to explain their role in the banking crisis, Government politicians have said.

Green Party senator Dan Boyle said it was right that the Taoiseach appear before such a probe to explain decisions he made as Finance Minister because “questions have to be asked”.

Mr Boyle compared the situation to Britain, where former prime minister Tony Blair is to appear before an inquiry into the Iraq war.

Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ardagh went further, saying not only the Taoiseach but his predecessor, Mr Ahern, should be called in to explain policy decisions.

While stressing his belief that people didn’t want to see “heads on plates”, Mr Ardagh told Newstalk radio station he saw “no reason” why senior office-holders shouldn’t be called to give evidence.

The prospect of such an inquiry moved a step closer yesterday when the powerful Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it would meet early next month to consider the issue.

The chairman of the PAC, Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen, made clear he would be seeking powers to compel witnesses to attend if a probe was launched.

“The public interest requires that these issues be thoroughly examined given the potential impact on the finances of the state.”

The original call for an inquiry was made earlier this week by economist Colm McCarthy, who led the Bord Snip group charged with identifying savings in the public sector.

Rather than launching another tribunal which could drag on for years, Mr McCarthy suggested the probe be modelled on the DIRT inquiry, a short but incisive PAC investigation into tax evasion which was broadcast live by TG4 in 1999.

Mr Allen said special legislation had been passed to underpin the DIRT inquiry, and it was his understanding that the same would be required if the PAC were to probe the banking crisis.

“Our meeting in September will have to consider this issue and also the terms of reference for an inquiry,” he said. “In that regard, I will be asking that the committee will be given full compellability powers in order to be able to conduct a thorough inquiry.”

The Department of Finance issued a distinctly lukewarm response to the prospect of an inquiry, however.

“The Government’s primary objective at this time is to resolve the current difficulties in the banking system so as to ensure they can lend to the real economy to support jobs. It is essential that this objective remains the top priority. The establishment of NAMA is crucial in this regard,” it said.

Government sources said the department did not want an inquiry because of the extra work it would create when staff were already under pressure with the NAMA legislation, the estimates process and the December budget.

The country’s two largest banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, said they had always co-operated with Oireachtas committees in the past and would do so again if asked.