How to make new banking inquiry credible

When the decision to establish an Oireachtas Joint Committee to conduct a banking inquiry was announced in April, over 12 months after the expiry of the blanket bank guarantee, we were advised that public confidence would be inspired because the banking inquiry would demonstrate ‘an example of parliament at its best’, as it would be the first inquiry conducted under new enabling legislation.

The scope of the banking inquiry is so complex that the actual cost of the 2008 blanket bank guarantee was €64.1bn, substantially more than the €16.4bn figure advised by the international experts, for whose advice the last Government paid over €7m in 2008. It is still not clear that the covered banks have access to sufficient capital to facilitate economic recovery and the achievement of desired and sustainable living standards.

Seven weeks have elapsed following the announcement of this inquiry and the initiative is submerged in a quagmire entirely of the Government’s own making that aggravates public confidence and threatens the inquiry’s credibility.

Why does the Government not explain why a Coalition majority on this inquiry, with or without a political whip, is in the public interest and does not create a widespread perception of bias and hidden agenda? Why does the Oireachtas not set out detailed biographies, educational and competencies of the committee members that defines their expertise to establish the facts behind the policy and administrative failures that caused our banking system and our citizens such appalling distress?

Myles Duffy

Bellevue Avenue

Glenageary

Co Dublin