Next Dáil will pick up work of bank inquiry

The next Dáil will be able to pick up the work and investigation done by the banking inquiry in the case of a snap general election being called.

If that happens, the current probe will come to an end and a new committee would need to be established in the next Dáil.

Draft proposals close to being agreed by TDs and senators will see the inquiry given special powers for the first time to access sensitive documents held by the Central Bank.

But politicians or staff connected to the inquiry will face severe penalties if any of those documents are leaked outside the investigation, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Most members expressed satisfaction with the draft terms yesterday after a closed-door meeting with advisers on what should be included in the long-awaited investigation.

The proposed terms give the probe a wide remit so as to prevent any complications if the inquiry faces a legal challenge. It will look at banking and financial events from 1992 up until 2013. But only specific periods and events will be examined.

These will include the funding of banks, when they decided to give out generous loans, what advice the government received when the financial crisis occurred and what decisions were taken.

The three main categories in the probe will cover banking, policies and responses by the government, and regulation.

These will include examining the actions of the Department of Finance, the financial regulator, auditors and the Central Bank.

The period in the lead-up to the bank guarantee, the setting up of the National Asset Management Agency and the liquidation of IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, will also be examined.

The Central Bank will also be required to hand over sensitive documents — until now forbidden — relating to important financial matters. Under the proposals, inquiry members will face specific sanctions — yet to be decided — if the documents are found to be leaked or distributed outside the probe.

“The terms are deliberately quite broad, so it cannot be frustrated and someone cannot claim something is outside the terms,” said one inquiry member.

Officials from external agencies will also be asked to attend, including from auditing firms, the International Monetary Fund, as well as the European Central Bank.

Crucially, the terms will include proposals that a banking inquiry could be continued in some shape or form if an early election was announced. The inquiry intends to finish its work and produce a final report by November next year.

However, if an election is announced before then, arrangements are being made so that any work can be picked up by a new inquiry team under the next Dáil.

The draft terms state that interim reports will be published.