Lucinda Creighton calls for banking inquiry to be reconvened

Renua Ireland leader Lucinda Creighton has called for the Oireachtas banking inquiry to be reconvened immediately to deal with the evidence of the former chief executive of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

Mike Aynsley contended at a hearing of the inquiry last week that the Department of Finance had wanted an asset sold in January 2013 for €100 million less than the highest bid.

Ms Creighton said on Tuesday that Mr Aynsley had delivered a “bombshell” and the inquiry should be brought back into session, rather than have his claims lie around for five or six weeks.

“We need to hear from the Department of Finance and from the Minister precisely what instructions were given, precisely what happened and I don’t think it is acceptable that Irish citizens have to wait now for in excess of a month to find out, or to have any response, to what happened in the banking inquiry,” she said.

Ms Creighton said the taxpayers and citizens needed accountability.

“That’s what the national parliament is for. I understand there was an effort to reconvene the Seanad the other day and that effort was dismissed,” she said.

“I think if the independence of the banking inquiry is to be proven, and if we are to have confidence in the independence of that body – there have been very significant questions marks over that since the beginning – then I think the banking inquiry needs to display some muscle.”

Ms Creighton was speaking at Leinster House where Renua published a policy on procurement.

Asked if her call would cut across the work of the separate commission that is looking into IBRC’s disposal of Siteserv, she replied: “This is part of the problem. We are great at setting up inquiries in this country. We are not so good at getting to the end of them.”

Ms Creighton said the allegations could not “hang out there for another five or six weeks while Ministers go off on holidays”.