Cowen tries to deflect criticism of inquiry

A RILED-UP Taoiseach Brian Cowen has tried to deflect severe criticism at his Government’s decision to curtail the scope of the banking inquiry.

During Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Mr Cowen said the inquiry was being set up to look into the causes of the crisis and not Government decisions taken to resolve it. This meant it would not question the wisdom of policy choices and would focus on the period prior to September 2008.

Mr Cowen said he was accountable on a daily basis to the Dáil for all the decisions he made and he would co-operate with any request from the Commission to supplement that.