Department of Finance defends confidentiality of IBRC documents

The Department of Finance has defended its decision to claim that important documents given to the IBRC inquiry were confidential.

Justice Brian Cregan says his legal investigation has reached a legal brick wall partly because the Department claimed some of its documents submitted as evidence were covered by confidentiality.

In a lengthy statement this evening, the Department of Finance says it would have been legally wrong not to tell Justice Cregan that the documents contained confidential information.

It says the documents given to the inquiry originally came from "various sources outside the Department", and were confidential at the time they were received, and had to remain confidential at the time it was sent onward.

But, it says, it still believed Judge Cregan would be able to consider the documents in evidence, and only found out otherwise last Thursday.