The Moriarty tribunal initiated a major investigation into exchange control issues in January and served orders for the discovery of documents on the Department of Finance and the Central Bank.
The tribunal has not said why it has launched this investigation. How far the tribunal takes the investigation and what aspects of exchange control regulation it concentrates on are matters for Mr Justice Moriarty.
The tribunal is investigating the finances of the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, and the former Fine Gael Minister, Mr Michael Lowry. Decisions made by Mr Haughey which may have been of benefit to any person who made payments to him, or who was the source of money held in the Ansbacher deposits for him, are among the issues the tribunal has been asked to examine.
It is also inquiring into the effect of offshore accounts in general on the tax base.
At least some of the files which have gone missing may be relevant to decisions on exchange control policy made by Mr Haughey while he was Minister for Finance between 1966 and 1970.
However, as the orders of discovery served by the tribunal on the Department of Finance and Central Bank cover the years 1954 to 1992, the purpose of the inquiry is not solely to examine decisions made by Mr Haughey. The Ansbacher deposits were set up some time in the early 1970s and so the files which have gone missing in the Department of Finance predate their existence.
One former close associate of Mr Haughey's, the late Mr Des Traynor, was professionally involved in matters concerned with exchange controls and with the Ansbacher deposits.
He handled Mr Haughey's financial affairs since around 1960. In 1969 Mr Traynor joined Guinness & Mahon bank. That same year he was involved in the foundation of Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust, an investment company which was to develop into a bank. The bank is now called Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd.
It was this bank, and - up to his death in 1994 - Mr Traynor, who controlled the Ansbacher deposits. According to the McCracken report, he acted on behalf of a number of Irish persons who wished to deposit their money offshore. Mr Haughey had funds in the Ansbacher deposits. The names of the other depositors are not known.
In his report Mr Justice McCracken said "it may well be that a number of the Irish depositors may have been people engaged in international business which was greatly facilitated by having a sterling account abroad which did not require exchange control permission to operate. No doubt there were others who deposited the monies in this way for other motives."
Exchange controls operated between 1954 and 1992 and Mr Justice Moriarty served the Department and Central Bank with orders of discovery which cover the entire period.
Mr Haughey was first elected a TD in 1957. He served as Minister for Justice from 1961 to 1964; Minister for Agriculture from 1964 to 1966; Minister for Finance from 1966 to 1970; and Minister for Health and Social Welfare from 1977 to 1979. He was Taoiseach from 1979 to 1981; in 1982, and 1987 to 1992. He retired from politics in 1992.