ODCE admits Anglo investigations were draining resources

The State’s botched investigation against ex-banker Seán FitzPatrick was undermined by the fact that untrained officials were tasked with taking key evidence because other prioritised Anglo investigations were draining vital resources.

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) made the admission as it separately conceded its formal Government-sought review into what happened will be limited because of the short timeframe it was given to investigate the failings.

In the ODCE’s 2016 annual report, which was published yesterday, director Ian Drennan referenced the “unprecedented” case and that the reality is the office was “simply not equipped at that time to run multiple parallel investigations on the scale and complexity involved”.