The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry has withdrawn its direction to former Irish Life & Permanent executive Peter Fitzpatrick to provide a written statement to the committee following an intervention by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The 11-person committee, chaired by the Labour Party’s Ciarán Lynch, had decided on September 3rd to maintain a direction to Mr Fitzpatrick to provide a written statement to the inquiry.

However, Mr Fitzpatrick, who is the subject of criminal proceedings by the State, then applied to the DPP for a declaration under section 72 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act that the committee withdraw its direction to him.

“Having considered the lines of inquiry on which the committee directed Mr Fitzpatrick to provide a written statement, the DPP said the evidence sought by the committee could reasonably be expected to prejudice the prosecution of Mr Fitzpatrick and issued a declaration to . . . to withdraw the direction,” a statement from the inquiry said.

Mr Fitzpatrick, who is 61 and lives in Malahide, Co Dublin, was finance director of IL&P at the time of the financial crash in 2008.

He is one of four former senior bank officials facing criminal proceedings in relation to an alleged fraud involving Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life Assurance and Irish Life & Permanent in 2008.

The others are Willie McAteer, a former finance director of Anglo, John Bowe, who was previously head of capital markets at Anglo, and Denis Casey, a former chief executive of IL&P.

On September 1st, the inquiry announced that it had withdrawn its direction to Mr Casey to appear before the committee following an intervention by the DPP.

The committee said it would not publish the written statement Mr Casey had submitted to the committee pending further consultations with the DPP.

The DPP had earlier intervened to prevent Mr McAteer and Mr Bowe from appearing as witnesses at the inquiry as it could prejudice criminal proceedings against them.