Callinan: No hindrance in bank crisis probe

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has insisted that criminal investigations into the banking crisis are not being hampered by lack of resources.

The country’s top Garda said he wanted to put on the record that his force had enough financial backing, skills and manpower to investigate alleged wrongdoing at Anglo Irish Bank.

He was speaking at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) annual conference, where officers warned white collar crime cases were being protracted because the force was under-equipped to deal with them.

“The longevity of the investigation is not due to a lack of resources,” said Commissioner Callinan.

“I have been assured and reassured over time by management that that is not the case.”

Commissioner Callinan said 90% of the work has been completed on two substantial files, making up the Garda probe into irregularities at Anglo.

He said he had absolute confidence in the inquiry, which has brought the Director of Public Prosecutions in unusually early and has forensic accountants working with them.

The commissioner reiterated that fraud offences of such a nature are very complex and required detailed evidence before court proceedings could be brought.

“The people with the expertise in the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Garda Fraud Bureau are more than capable of investigating these particular offences,” he added.

“They have the necessary assistance to that job.”

Sergeant Mary Finnegan, of the Agsi national executive, said yesterday investigations into Anglo and the Moriarty Tribunal findings are being delayed because specialist units didn’t have “half enough resources”.

She said the force’s track record at the top end of fraudulent crime was “non-existent” and gardai were sent in on “mopping-up” exercises, which resulted in a lack of white-collar prosecutions.