Banking inquiry hard-pressed to meet deadline

The bank inquiry has received a severe dressing down from a senior Oireachtas official after it emerged the group is so pushed for time it considered skipping an essential legal review in a last-ditch bid to ensure its report is published.

The acting clerk of the Dáil wrote to the inquiry yesterday to warn the move carries severe legal risks for the State and individual members and must be avoided at all costs.

Several sources said the inquiry could be scrapped entirely by the middle of next week due to the scale of ongoing problems.