Kenny’s bid to regain bank inquiry majority backfires

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s bid to snatch back a majority on the Oireachtas inquiry into the banking collapse has been thrown into fresh turmoil.

After failure by Labour senators to turn up for a vote on the upper house’s nominees for the probe saw the Coalition lose its edge on the nine-member investigation, attempts to block the Fianna Fáil senator who was selected have received a setback.

Fine Gael leader Maurice Cummings objected to the selection of FF’s Marc MacSharry as he claimed the senator had a “conflict of interest” before withdrawing the remark.

The Government then referred the matter to the Committee of Procedure and Privileges (CPP) for a ruling. But the CPP has insisted it has no role in re-opening the nomination and could not consider any conflict of interest claim until the inquiry’s terms of reference were agreed.

Mr Kenny has insisted the Government must have a majority on the probe for the terms of reference to be agreed and adopted.

In order to achieve such an outcome, the Government may seek to expand the panel to 11 members.

Such a move would provoke intense criticism from the opposition, especially Fianna Fáil, who claim that the Government intends to politicise the probe in the run-up to the next general election.

One senior Government source warned: “We have lost control of the Seanad, we don’t have a majority there now, so this is going to be difficult.”

Mr MacSharry was nominated for the probe after the proposed Government member, Senator Susan O’Keeffe, and another Labour member, were absent from the selection committee meeting.

A statement from the CPP said: “Once the terms of reference is passed by the House setting out the subject matter of the proposed inquiry, and the committee tasked with carrying out the inquiry is named, the CPP will have a clear role in the determination of whether a perception of bias arises in relation to an individual member.”