Commissioner expects decision on charging Anglo bankers by year-end

GARDA Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said yesterday he expected decisions will be made before the end of the year on whether bankers will be charged in the huge criminal investigation into Anglo Irish Bank.

Commissioner Murphy, speaking at the graduation of 109 gardaí at Templemore College, said the force had all the necessary legal and accountancy skills and supports to deal with the investigation.

This week, he said, he has had two meetings with the DPP with whom they are working closely.

Mr Murphy said: “At the end of the day, our job, which we are doing without any distraction, is to ensure that a file goes to the DPP and that he can make an early decision whether somebody should or should not be charged.

“I am not going to put a time on it, but I would expect some decisions before the end of the year.”

He said the investigation had led to more than 400 statements being taken, some of which amounted to up to 150 typed pages.

Commissioner Murphy said he had an assistant commissioner leading the investigation, and was getting accountancy support from the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

Members of the gardaí from the bureau fraud investigation have also been deployed and two senior counsel retained.

The commissioner said: “I am satisfied that the expertise and the ability and the skills are more than adequate. This (investigation), while it is complex in terms of its size, the issues are the same. We are endeavouring to get evidence to put to the DPP in relation to people who may have been involved in specific breaches of the criminal law.”

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, who presented gardaí with their graduation parchments, said there were 40 people now on the investigation which he said was probably the biggest and most complex in the history of the state.

Mr Ahern said that 115,000 emails had to date been reviewed and examined: “It is a complex investigation and one obviously that politicians need to be very careful about what they say, because we have had instances where politicians made remarks publicly which led to people getting off.”

- At the ceremony, attended by the North’s Justice Minister, David Forde, the Commissioner’s Medal for the best academic student went to Garda Nora Brady from Feakle, who will be stationed in Galway.

- The Gary Sheehan Memorial Medal for the best all-round student went to Garda Tomasz Bialkowski from Poland, who will be stationed in Kevin Street, Dublin.

- The Templemore Town Council medal for environment studies went to Garda Sinead Tyrrell from Whitehall, Dublin, who will be stationed in Finglas.