The length of time the criminal investigation into the former Anglo Irish Bank is taking is a “source of frustration” to the Government, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said.
The Minister said, however, it was important that public comment not be made which could prejudice criminal proceedings.
Mr Shatter’s comments followed remarks by Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte in an interview today criticising what he called the "interminable delay" in garda investigations into matters related to corruption arising out of tribunals.
“Under our criminal justice system individuals are presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt,” Mr Shatter said.
He issued a statement on white collar crime in light of “various reports” dealing with the issue. Mr Shatter said he believed it would be “helpful” to set out the facts in relation to these matters.
“I have made clear publicly before that, while recognising the great complexities involved and the efforts of those involved in the investigations, the length of time which the Anglo Irish investigation has been taking is, of course, a source of frustration - to myself, my colleagues in Government and people generally,” the Minister said.
He said the Government had, since its appointment, been “determined to ensure that the necessary resources are available to those carrying out the investigation”.
In addition, a range of measures had been introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2011 to help both with the Anglo investigation and with investigations into white collar crime generally.
Two “substantially complete” investigation files were submitted by the Garda Bureau of Investigation to the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the Anglo investigation in December 2010.
“There is ongoing contact between the Gardaí and the Office of the Director, and the counsel appointed by the Director, and various further inquiries have been undertaken and papers submitted. The Commissioner has assured me that this work is receiving absolute priority,” Mr Shatter said.
“It is, of course, a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions to make decisions on the cases submitted to her.
“In those circumstances, clearly it is not possible to go into precise details of these investigations so as to avoid the danger of prejudicing the possibility of proceedings against persons.”
Mr Shatter noted the issue had also arisen of Garda action in relation to the work of both the Moriarty and Mahon Tribunals.
“The Garda Commissioner has already made it clear that following an examination of the Moriarty report he is consulting with the Director of Public Prosecutions as to whether aspects of it may be pursued from a criminal point of view,” Mr Shatter said.
He said those named in tribunal reports had “no lesser nor greater rights when it comes to the criminal law than anyone else”. In relation to the Mahon tribunal a similar examination was taking place.
“It will be appreciated that both of these tribunals sat for many years, partly reflecting the complexity of the issues involved.”
The Minister said a subsequent Garda investigation, which could not use as evidence the evidence given at the tribunal, must “inevitably” take some time.
“But as I recently indicated in the Dail I am confident that An Garda Síochána, where they have reason to believe that offences have been committed, will deal with these matters without fear or favour.”
“In this context, it should be borne in mind that there are people presently before the courts in connection with planning matters and it would be inappropriate for me to make any comment on those cases.”
Mr Shatter said that under our criminal justice system individuals were presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
“It is clearly important that public comment is not made which could prejudice criminal proceedings and damage the prospects of such proceedings being successfully taken where it is deemed appropriate to do so.”
In an interview in today's Sunday Independent, Mr Rabbitte questioned why "so much time has elapsed" and that no banker had been brought to account for what he termed the "destruction of the country".