The European Central Bank will decide next week when it will release a letter from ECB president Jean Claude Trichet to former minister for finance Brian Lenihan on the eve of the Irish bailout.
Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said yesterday that the ECB had confirmed to him that it will set the date for the release of the letter on November 6th.
“Further to their commitment to me that they will release the Lenihan-Trichet letter, the ECB has informed me that they will decide on the release date at their governing council meeting on November 6th after which they will confirm to me the exact date of release,” said Mr Kelly.
“The public release of the infamous letter is a very important move in the interests of transparency and ahead of the impending banking inquiry. Irish people have a right to know the thought processes of key policymakers who took such momentous decisions,” the Ireland South MEP added.
Mr Kelly received a letter from the ECB board on August 26th reiterating its policy of withholding the letter, but it gave an undertaking to review the situation at the conclusion of the ongoing bank stress tests. It added once the stress tests were finished by the end of this month that conditions would then be appropriate for the letter’s release.
Ombudsman welcomes move
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly yesterday welcomed the fact the ECB seemed to be in the process of reviewing its refusal to give access to the letter. “The letter, sent at the height of the financial crisis, called on the Irish government to take swift action to protect the stability of the Irish financial system,” said Ms O’Reilly.
She said that, acting on a complaint by an Irish journalist, she had already criticised the governing council of the ECB in March 2014 for having wasted an opportunity for transparency by not releasing the letter.
“Following an inspection of the letter, I concluded that the ECB had been right to refuse access to the document at the time of the request for access. However, as more than three years have passed since the letter was sent, I proposed that the ECB now disclose [it].”
Ms O’Reilly added that at the time, the ECB justified its refusal to disclose the letter by the need to protect Ireland’s financial stability and said it was sent in the context of significant market pressure and extreme uncertainty as to the prospects for the economy.
Speaking on a visit to Washington, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has said the public has a right to see the letter.
“It has been a very difficult period of our history. People have a right to know what went wrong and also to make sure that it can never happen again,” he said.
Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty called on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to release the letter himself.
