Oireachtas faces legal action over inquiry

A legal firm is taking action against the Houses of the Oireachtas over the tendering process to procure legal advice to the forthcoming banking inquiry.

Members of the Oireachtas banking inquiry committee were told at a meeting yesterday about the proceedings.

Maples and Calder is taking action against the Houses of the Oireachtas. However, the challenge is “unconnected to the subject matter” of the inquiry and will not delay its proceedings, sources said.

“There is a legal challenge being taken about the tendering process but it isn’t anything to do with the substance of the inquiry,” one source said.

Members of the banking inquiry committee meanwhile will only have to undergo “bias tests” if complaints are made against them by members of the public. They cannot put themselves forward for bias tests in advance.

The committee yesterday discussed the possibility of taking the tests en masse to ensure they are not prejudiced nor had made any comments about institutions or individuals being investigated by the committee.

The TDs or Senators concerned would go before the Committee on Procedures and Privileges (CPP), but it was decided at a private meeting yesterday it would not be possible to go forward en masse as a committee.

A complaint would have to be made – with an allegation of specific bias – to initiate the process, according to sources.

“We’re not in a situation where we could instigate that ourselves,” one source said. “The view was to await any complaints.”

Trichet appearance

Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said he will not personally intervene to ask former ECB president Jean Claude Trichet to attend the banking inquiry.

However, Mr Noonan said for an efficient inquiry to take place it must “hear from everybody who’s directly involved” but said the committee’ proceedings are up to chairman Ciarán Lynch.

Mr Noonan said the banking inquiry can complete its work before the next election, adding there would not be an election until late spring 2016.

The banking inquiry’s advisory group has recommended the investigation should look back over the past 20 years to discover the origins of Ireland’s economic crash.

Economist Colm McCarthy is on the expert group that presented an initial report to the committee suggesting a framework for a 14-month inquiry.