Irish banking inquiry to recall Patrick Honohan

The banking inquiry is set to recall Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan to reappear before it because of his written request to amend evidence he gave to the committee last month.

Mr Honohan appeared at the inquiry on January 15th but wrote to the committee earlier this month asking to “rephrase” some of his comments he made regarding the bank guarantee.

In particular, he wanted to amend comments in relation to the government on the night of the guarantee in September 2008.

It is understood Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath initially raised the issue of a recall at a private meeting of the inquiry earlier this week.

However, a number of sources said the cross-party committee was agreed that Mr Honohan should appear before TDs and Senators again.

Written statement

Officials are now assessing a number of options, such as whether Mr Honohan will have to provide a written statement in advance of his second appearance. A final decision has yet to be taken.

At the January hearing, Mr Honohan was asked if his view of Anglo Irish Bank’s inclusion in the guarantee had changed since he produced a special report for the government in 2010, before he became governor of the Central Bank.

In a letter to inquiry chairman Ciarán Lynch, sent on February 12th, Mr Honohan said he had reflected on his discussions with the committee and while he did not think there had been “much evolution” in his thinking, he accepted that a “different impression might have been conveyed” to the inquiry.