The Blayney Inquiry into possible breaches by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of its rules is now to resume its hearings, with a view to concluding its report. The inquiry was established by the ICAI to look into possible breaches by members of its ethical guidelines, auditing standards and professional independence rules, arising out of the report of the McCracken Tribunal into payments to politicians from Dunnes Stores.

In an interim report last April, the committee, chaired by the retired Supreme Court Judge Mr Justice John Blayney, indicated that it wanted to consider all relevant evidence from the Moriarty Tribunal - which is following up the work of the McCracken Tribunal - before completing its report. However, the committee is now to hold final hearings, following which it will conclude its report, according to a statement yesterday. It now believes "it is unlikely that any more evidence relevant to the inquiry will be received by the Moriarty Tribunal."

The interim report of the inquiry revealed that some parties had been informed that a prima facie case had been established by the committee. These members are now likely to be invited back to the committee, it is understood, and may choose to present evidence.

Oliver Freaney and Deloitte & Touche were joint auditors to Dunnes Stores and were represented before the McCracken Tribunal, as was Mr Noel Fox, a partner in Oliver Freaney and a Dunnes Stores trustee. Oliver Freaney were also auditors to Mr Michael Lowry's company Garuda.