Bank collapse investigators will be first before inquiry
TDs and senators on the Oireachtas committee looking at the financial crash yesterday agreed the initial witness list and gave the go-ahead for the first hearings.
The inquiry will open in Leinster House on December 17 and first hear from Finnish academic and finance expert, Peter Nyberg, who wrote the report of the Commission of Investigation into the Banking Sector.
His report looked at events leading up to the crash. It also concluded that a decision by the banks to lend high-value loans for risky commercial property was a fundamental cause of the banking crash.
On December 18, Rob Wright, the former Canadian secretary general of finance who authored an independent report into the Department of Finance, will appear before the inquiry.
This independent report revealed that Department of Finance officials had warned the Bertie Ahern government of its policies during the boom years and that this was regularly ignored.
Commenting ahead of the first hearings later this month, the inquiry chairman and Labour TD Ciaran Lynch yesterday said: “I understand that people have waited a long time for this inquiry to be established, but it is necessary to understand that this is the first inquiry of its type to take place under new legislation. Therefore, the onus is on us to make sure we get everything right from the start.”
Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan will be the next major witness to give evidence in January.
Other banking and finance experts will also give evidence about bank guarantees and bailout programmes in other countries in the New Year.
The inquiry has agreed to finish its work and final report by November next year, before the next general election the following year.
