Bank inquiry failings

If we know one thing about statutory inquiries in this country, it is that they do not go according to plan.

Invariably there are over-runs in time and cost and the “unexpected” legal challenge is now a time-honoured trait.

So the decision to delay the banking inquiry to the fourth year of a five-year government term, when it was a central plank of the programme for government at the outset, is questionable to say the least.

It looks like the thinking behind the late start was that the findings — which were never going to be kind to Fianna Fáil — would come out just in time for the general election.

But regardless of whether the decision was driven by cynical strategy or naive optimism, there’s now a strong possibility that the findings may never be finalised at all, or that they’ll be a rush job simply to meet a deadline.

In the programme for government, the Coalition promised: “We will ensure that the investigations into failures in the banking system are adequately resourced.” And they were — with everything but common sense.