Claims of wrongdoing to be investigated at Banking Inquiry

An external investigator will be appointed by the Houses of the Oireachtas service next week to look into allegations of wrongdoing at the Oireachtas banking inquiry dating back to April of this year.

In a dramatic development yesterday, it emerged that an investigator working with the inquiry had made allegations of wrongdoing under whistleblower legislation.

This person, who has not been named, is no longer working on the inquiry team, although they continue to be employed by the Houses of the Oireachtas, which overseas the operation of the Dáil and Seanad.

The allegations are understood to concern claims that preferential treatment was given by the investigation team to the Central Bank, the Department of Finance and certain witnesses in preparation for the committee’s hearings.

It is also alleged that a member of the investigations team leaked information to a Sunday newspaper.

It is understood that inquiry chairman Ciaran Lynch was made aware of the allegations early on but that this information was not shared will each of the 11 committee members.

Complainant

An internal report on the matter is believed to have been prepared in May for the acting clerk of the Dail, Peter Finnegan, and provided to the complainant.

The complainant then produced their own report of more than 70 pages, which was submitted in early July.

The whistleblower contacted a number of inquiry members on Tuesday evening about the allegations with the result that the committee held a number of private sessions yesterday to deal with the matter.

This included Senator Marc MacSharry of Fianna Fáil. He expressed his dissatisfaction at the allegations not being brought to the attention of all committee members sooner.

"I would expect the appointment of an independent investigator in the next week or two," Mr MacSharry told The Irish Times. "My only interest is the integrity of the inquiry and I'm pleased that this matter is moving forward now."

In a statement last night, the inquiry said the acting clerk of the Dáil had instigated a “process of investigation”.

It did not provide any details relating to the allegations made. It is not clear who will be charged with investigating this matter but the terms of reference are currently being worked out.

Oireachtas sources insisted that the allegations would not affect the continuing work of the inquiry.