Govt considers referendum in wake of Anglo Tapes scandal

The Government is considering holding another referendum to give politicians more powers to hold inquiries.

The development follows the release of recordings of conversations between senior bankers at Anglo.

They reveal the toxic bank deliberately misled the Central Bank on how much the bailout would cost and they also suggest the Chief Executive David Drumm was happy to abuse the guarantee.

The Government has committed to holing a banking inquiry in the autumn, however there is concern that some of the leading figures could go to court to avoid being answerable to the committee.

The Irish Times today reports that Government sources have indicated holding another referendum to give more powers to the Oireachtas is a real possibility.

A similar referendum was rejected in 2011 by a 52 to 48% majority