Counsel to probe banking inquiry allegations

An independent senior counsel has been appointed to lead an investigation into claims that some banking inquiry witnesses received “preferential” treatment and allegedly met an investigator for dinner days before being questioned over their role in the crash.

An Oireachtas spokesperson confirmed, following a lengthy private meeting of the banking inquiry last night, that Senan Allen, who has previously worked on the Mahon tribunal, will head up the inquiry into the inquiry as part of a report which must conclude by the end of August.

The senior counsel was asked to lead the investigation — the terms of reference for which will be finalised in the coming days — after a backroom member of the inquiry made serious allegations of inappropriate contact with witnesses in April.

The backroom official initially alleged in a number of emails to inquiry chairman and Labour TD Ciaran Lynch, Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty, and Labour senator Susan O’Keeffe that the Central Bank and Nama had been given “preferential” treatment before their public appearances.

These concerns are understood to include the initial redaction of a large number of Central Bank documents, an initial refusal to provide the board meeting minutes of one bank, and a dinner between Nama officials and one senior investigator days before giving evidence.

An initial report was drawn up by the inquiry into the concerns. However, the whistleblower — who is no longer working on the investigation — was unhappy and responded by sending an 82-page dossier of concerns.

These issues were provided to all 11 TDs and senators who sit on the public side of the inquiry last Tuesday. The majority were, at the time, unaware of the allegations.

The issue, which led to repeated delays to the schedule of the banking inquiry last Wednesday as the group met for hours in heated private sessions, took a significant focus away from former taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s evidence just 24 hours later.

However, while the timing of the concerns’ emergence has been alleged by some officials as noteworthy, non-Fianna Fáil officials close to the inquiry are understood to believe the issue is not a party matter and should be given genuine consideration.