Members of the banking inquiry could face criminal sanction if they name a “bank, corporate or individual” during proceedings, the Dáil has been warned.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said “no individual or corporate can be named”. It was also possible that when inquiry members questioned Central Bank officials, “they will not be able to ask questions about specific banks, corporates or individuals”.
Mr Martin was speaking in advance of the debate on the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill, which Minister of State Simon Harris said “would enable the committee to have access to certain confidential banking information held by the Central Bank of Ireland”.
But the Fianna Fáil leader said a new standing order being introduced next week provides that “members of the banking inquiry committee may be sanctioned for failure to comply with professional secrecy provisions in respect of confidential information provided under the Central Bank Act 1942”.
He said up to 60 per cent of documentation from the Central Bank in relation to the collapse might not be fully accessible by committee members.
He did not oppose the legislation but said he wanted to highlight his “grave reservations about the import and impact of this Bill, the implications of which have not been widely circulated”.
Legal advice
During heated exchanges Labour whip Emmet Stagg said the whips of all the parties had agreed to the changes.
Independent TD Catherine Murphy said they had done so very reluctantly.
Tánaiste Joan Burton said the Bill’s purpose was to empower the Central Bank, “which is an independent entity in its roles and functions, to co-operate with the banking inquiry as fully as possible”.
She said the Central Bank operated with the European Central Bank and there was “very serious legal advice” about how the inquiry members had to conduct themselves for the inquiry to proceed successfully.
She said the issue had been agreed by the whips and by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
But Mr Martin said that while members of the inquiry would have access to Central Bank documentation they would not be allowed copies of it and “it will not be available for public scrutiny”.
Mr Martin warned that it would be very difficult for members of the inquiry team to conduct their work in a thorough and competent way “if they are precluded from referring to and questioning witnesses about documentation they have received from the Central Bank”.
