MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey has sharply criticised those who were involved in wrongdoing in Anglo Irish Bank, accusing them of engaging in “economic treason”.
Mr Dempsey said he and his Cabinet colleagues wanted to see the people responsible “pay a price”.
“I have heard a huge amount of nonsense about why people are not in jail. You have to collect the evidence; it has to be investigated thoroughly and I and my colleagues want to see the people responsible [pay] for that,” he said.
Mr Dempsey, who was speaking in Shannon, is the first Government Minister to describe the Anglo Irish Bank controversy in those terms, although Green Party chairman Senator Dan Boyle also accused the banks of economic treason while speaking in the Seanad recently.
Director of Corporate Enforcement Paul Appleby is currently assembling and examining documents produced by the bank in relation to directors’ loans at Anglo.
A spokesman at his office said yesterday it is hoped this phase will be completed by the end of next month or early April. Among the options open to Mr Appleby is to request the High Court to appoint an inspector who would conduct a wide-ranging inquiry. However, the spokesman stressed that this was only one of a number of criminal and civil options available to Mr Appleby under the Companies Acts.
In a letter to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance earlier this month, Mr Appleby said he had formed an opinion in the Anglo Irish Bank case that “circumstances suggesting prejudice, misconduct and/or illegality are present with respect to the company’s affairs”.
Elsewhere, the Opposition has claimed Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has reneged on an agreement to give a comprehensive public briefing to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance about the banking crisis.
Labour Party deputy leader Joan Burton said last night Mr Lenihan had agreed to appear before the committee for a number of hours next Thursday. However, she said she learned the Minister would only be present for 1½ hours because of the visit of Jean Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, on the same day.
She said that at the time of nationalisation the Taoiseach said there was a need for a bipartisan approach.
If Mr Lenihan appeared at the committee, it would at least give an opportunity to share the information. “One and a half hours is totally inadequate. It will not allow any real engagement,” she said. A spokesman for Fine Gael said the appearance of the Minister would have allowed the relevant information to be discussed in a rational way.
“If the Minister is not prepared to give more than 1½ hours, it’s disappointing but not surprising,” said the spokesman.
