The High Court inspectors investigating the Ansbacher deposits are inviting contact from members of the public who believe they have information which could be of use.

The inspectors are to place advertisements in the national newspapers pointing out their investigation is a private one and that information given will be treated "in the strictest confidence". Members of the public who wish to make contact are invited to write to a PO box in Blackrock, Co Dublin.

The advertisements contain the wording of the order given to the inspectors by the High Court in September. The wording, which has not been published before, instructs the inspectors to identify the "officers, agents and clients" of Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd, the Cayman Islands bank which controlled the deposits. It also instructs the inspectors to examine whether the affairs of the company were conducted for any "fraudulent or unlawful purpose" and to identify what laws were broken and who the alleged offenders were in each case.

During the application for the appointment of the inspectors in September it was revealed that approximately 120 Irish people, 100 of whom were Irish residents, were believed to have used the secret deposits. It was also stated that there may be more who have not yet been identified, and that there was evidence the deposits were operated so as to allow people evade tax.

The Ansbacher deposits were set up by the late Mr Des Traynor in the early 1970s, after Guinness & Mahon bank, Dublin, had set up a Cayman Islands subsidiary, Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust. The Cayman bank did business here although it was not authorised to do so. It was subsequently sold to Henry Ansbacher group.

The inspectors, retired High Court judge Mr Justice Declan Costello, Ms Noreen Mackey, barrister-at-law, and accountant Mr Paul Rowan, have taken out office space in Trident House, Blackrock, and engaged a senior counsel, two accountants and two secretarial staff. They were appointed following an application from the Tanaiste, Ms Harney.

"The inspectors consider that the Order of the Court by which they were appointed and the statute under which it was made, preclude them from making any public statement about the progress of their investigation and regret that they cannot answer questions from the media about it," the inspectors said in a statement yesterday.

The appointment of the High Court inspectors followed an investigation by an authorised officer, Mr Gerard Ryan. The reports of authorised officers cannot be published. The reports of inspectors may be published. The inspectors can be contacted at PO Box 7419, Blackrock, Co Dublin. The advertisement is due to appear in The Irish Times tomorrow.