IBRC investigation extended - Promise on transparencysadly broken

AS exercises in optimism go, the decision – inevitably over-ridden – that an accountancy firm centrally involved in the Siteserv deal — KPMG — should lead an inquiry into that sale was on a par with one of Sepp Blatter’s move-along, nothing-to-see-here fantasies. 

It is hard to think that, just like Mr Blatter protesting his innocence, those announcing details of the investigation could do so with a straight face.

It was so very out of kilter with due, credible process, that even if the politicians involved in establishing it could not see how very inappropriate the arrangement was, then KPMG should have immediately distanced themselves from a process as riddled with conflicting interests as a Fifa World Cup vote.

That politicians thought it might pass muster with a public all too familiar with gesture rather than achievement is dispiriting and underlines a disconnect with the electorate and another abandonment of this Government’s commitment to openness and transparency in public affairs.

The extension of the inquiry into the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) to investigate whether preferential interest rates were given to influential, golden-circle borrowers was inevitable too, despite repeated Government assurances that it was unnecessary.

The welcome for that inquiry must be muted, even though it is vital that a process, one with real teeth and a sharp timetable, is put in place to allay the widespread suspicions almost inevitable when so much public money is involved.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has given an assurance that the commission will report by the end of the year but our experience with commissions of inquiry — hundreds of millions spent but no smoking guns and barely a conviction — suggests otherwise. By being forced to extend the original remit, Mr Noonan and his colleagues have cut a stick for their own backs. If the commission does not report before an election is called the issues involved will fuel all sorts of damaging conjecture. If it does report, it may – and at this stage this can only be speculation – uncover practices any Government, maybe even Mr Blatter, might struggle to defend.

Speaking yesterday afternoon, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said there is “no evidence of wrongdoing” ahead of the widened inquiry. Making his first public comment — amazingly and disappointingly — on the controversy since Independent TD Catherine Murphy’s claims in the Dáil last week about businessman Denis O’Brien’s banking arrangements, Mr Kenny tried to be reassuring but his statement seems to echo Mr Blatter’s equally optimistic assertions.

The saddest thing about all of this is that it renews the old ‘they’re-all-the-same’ mantra, the one that so damages our faith in Government and politics.

Two things that have not been damaged by this affair are the reputation of two Dáil members: Deputy Catherine Murphy for her tenacity and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin for his forthright speaking. If he could renew his party as effectively as Government bumbling has, then he would go down in history as one of its greatest leaders.