PUBLIC CONCERN at the failure to prosecute those responsible for the banking crisis has prompted the establishment of a Cabinet subcommittee on white-collar crime at the insistence of Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

In a letter sent to Green Party members, Mr Gormley said the lack of prosecutions against those individuals who caused the banking crisis was a source of anger and frustration.

“I share this sense of frustration. It is simply not tenable in a republic that there can be such a marked difference of emphasis in dealing with white-collar and other crime,” said the Minister.

He said many in the party had asked, for example, how it was possible for a man to be arrested for stealing €14 worth of nappies while others lived the high life.

“We have to look afresh at how we tackle these issues. I fully appreciate the distinction that exists between Government and the investigating authorities. Nevertheless, I have witnessed prompt and zealous measures taken in relation to gangland crime by the authorities,” said Mr Gormley, who added that a comparable sense of urgency needed to apply to these cases involving banking.

“This is why I have insisted that we set up a Cabinet subcommittee to consider all aspects of fraud and white-collar criminality,” he said.

Mr Gormley said that the last week had been a particularly difficult one and the final figures for Anglo Irish Bank were simply horrendous. Even worse was the scale of the budget deficit.

“This problem is due to serious errors by previous administrations in managing our economy leading to an unsustainable tax structure and boom. We, the Green Party, are now in the unenviable position of having to help correct this.”