THE TWO main Opposition parties have renewed their call for an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the banking crisis in the light of a new report that shows the Financial Regulator was too lenient with the big banks.
Fine Gael and the Labour Party argued separately yesterday that there was now a compelling case for an inquiry. Their calls followed the disclosure of a report by the consumer panel of the regulator’s office, which accused it of failing to protect consumers; carrying out useless investigations, and failing to understand many of the financial products it oversees.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it was time for the Taoiseach to “drop his opposition” to an inquiry. Last week, Mr Cowen told the Dáil he would “have to carefully consider such an inquiry before giving any commitment”.
“It now appears that the only obstacle to the holding of an inquiry is the attitude of Brian Cowen and other senior Fianna Fáil Ministers,” he said.
Fine Gael’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar said yesterday that a public inquiry was essential. “I very much endorse the view of [the governor of the Central Bank] Dr Patrick Honohan that an inquiry is needed.
“We are always told by the Government: ‘We are where we are’. It’s also important to know how we got here,” said Mr Varadkar.
Mr Gilmore said there widespread public support for the inquiry.
He said the inquiry by a sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee into how banks handled deposit interest retention tax (Dirt) provided a template.