Banking Inquiry: Ex-IL&P chief Denis Casey not to appear

Former Irish Life & Permanent chief executive Denis Casey will not now have to appear at the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry on Thursday following an intervention by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In a statement on Tuesday, the inquiry said it had agreed to withdraw its direction to Mr Casey to attend public hearings this week.

“The DPP wrote to the joint committee last week expressing serious concerns about the appearance of Denis Casey before the banking inquiry, on the basis that his evidence could reasonably be expected to prejudice a number of prosecutions currently being pursued,” the inquiry said.

The committee said it would not publish Mr Casey’s statement pending further consultations with the DPP.

Drumm decision deferred

Separately, the committee has deferred a decision on whether or not to publish the written statement submitted by David Drumm, the former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank, pending further legal advice.

In July, the DPP intervened to prevent Mr Drumm giving evidence by video-link from the United States on the grounds it might prejudice criminal proceedings involving him.

The committee then sought to publish his earlier written statement, but the DPP again intervened to stop such a move. The matter has since been the subject of consultation between the two sides.

The inquiry is due to hear from Irish Nationwide executives on Wednesday. This includes an eagerly awaited appearance by the building society's former chief executive, Michael Fingleton.

Irish Nationwide

Mr Fingleton is expected to tell the committee that Irish Nationwide was solvent on the night of the guarantee and did not require a State bailout.

Mr Fingleton left the company in late 2009 and Irish Nationwide received a €5 billion bailout from taxpayers before later being closed by the Government.

Mr Fingleton will be followed by Irish Nationwide's former chairman Michael Walsh and John Stanley Purcell, who was finance director between 1994 and 2010.

Mr Fingleton and Mr Walsh will be asked to give evidence on a number of lines of inquiry, including the composition, skills and experience of the board and its subcommittees, the quality of the business model setting process, the adequacy of board oversight over internal controls to ensure risk was properly identified, managed and monitored, and the appropriateness of property-related lending strategies and risk appetite.

It will also look at the appropriateness of credit policies, the adequacy of the incentive and remuneration arrangements to promote sound risk governance, and the impact of shareholder or lending relationships in promoting independent challenge by the board and its executives.

Other lines of inquiry include the liquidity versus solvency debate, the appropriateness of the bank guarantee decision, the decision to recapitalise Irish banks, and the appropriateness and effectiveness of the regulatory regime.