The alleged leaking of confidential correspondence from the Oireachtas banking inquiry is to be investigated by gardaí.

The committee met in private session yesterday to discuss the publishing of a witness statement from former Department of Finance secretary general Kevin Cardiff in a Sunday newspaper.

A spokesman for the inquiry said it was "still unclear" how the information was revealed ahead of the meeting but he confirmed the matter would now be forwarded to An Garda Síochána for investigation.

“The concern for the Committee is that the documentation in its totality has a particular legal protection and, in that light, the Committee is writing to the relevant persons who were sent the documentation and the media outlets which are now in possession of documentation to remind them that to publish the documents would be an offence under Section 41 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013.”

The leaking of information from the banking inquiry is a criminal offence under the Oireachtas inquiries legislation. Anyone convicted could face a €500,000 fine, a five year prison sentence or both.

Mr Cardiff is due to appear before the committee tomorrow but had sent in a 380-page statement ahead of his appearance.

A spokesman for the committee, which is headed by chairman Ciaran Lynch, said the media outlets in possession of the documentation will also be referred to the Garda.

He added: “This witness statement forms part of a larger set of documents which are confidential under Section 37 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013 and, in some cases, also fall within the ambit of Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act.

“Publication of these confidential documents is a breach of the Inquiries Act and may constitute an offence.”

Mr Cardiff was at the helm of the Department of Finance’s banking unit on the night of the key bank guarantee decision in September 2008. He had prepared a 380-page book of evidence for the committee, giving his take on the events of the night of the bank guarantee and subsequent fallout.

‘Fallacy’

It had accused Jean-Claude Trichet of “one big fallacy” by saying the

European Central Bank

“simply” gave advice in relation to the issue of senior bank bondholders.

The inquiry also met to discuss a proposal by Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath to invite businessman Denis O'Brien in before the committee. The proposal was rejected by the committee following legal advice.

The committee received a boost as the Government agreed to lift Cabinet confidentiality rules to allow a key witness, the former attorney general Paul Gallagher, to give evidence.

Mr Gallagher will be able to detail the advice he gave the Fianna Fáil-Green government on the night of the bank guarantee. Mr Gallagher was bound by cabinet confidentiality, which normally cannot be lifted for 30 years after the event. He will not be allowed to bring Cabinet documents or his written advice before the committee.

But Mr Gallagher will be able to give oral evidence on what he told former taoiseach Brian Cowen and former minister for finance Brian Lenihan in September 2008.

A separate memo was brought before Cabinet to grant the Department of Finance approval to detail any legal advice it got from private firms in the run-up to the guarantee.