THE MINISTER for Justice has said he does not comment on ongoing cases before the courts, but pointed out he had previously said he would ensure the Office of Corporate Enforcement had sufficient resources to prosecute white-collar crime.
Alan Shatter was responding to yesterday’s criticism from High Court judge Mr Justice Peter Kelly over delays in prosecuting commercial and corporate crime.
Mr Justice Kelly was expressing his concern at the length of time being taken by the investigation into Anglo Irish Bank.
Mr Justice Kelly pointed out that Mr Justice Frank Clarke, who also sits in the Commercial Court, had recently said it was “very surprising indeed” that little action had been taken about struck-off solicitor Thomas Byrne despite Mr Byrne’s admissions in court about practices he had been engaged in.
A spokesman for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement said it was studying Mr Justice Kelly’s judgment and was making no comment. It was also continuing the investigation, following the extension of time to July 28th.
The office has about 50 people working in it, drawn from members of the Garda Síochána, lawyers, accountants and a small number of civil servants who provide administrative support. About a third of them are working on the Anglo Irish investigation, he said.
There was no comment either from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, the DPP does not issue any comment on the progress of the decision-making process. The DPP recently launched a pilot project to give reasons to families for a decision not to prosecute in cases involving deaths, but this has not been extended to other types of crime.
A spokesman for Garda Headquarters last night said it would be inappropriate for the Garda to comment about ongoing investigations into cases of alleged serious financial irregularity.
Labour TD Michael McNamara said political action may be needed to ensure speedy prosecutions in the area of white collar crime. Welcoming the remarks by Mr Justice Kelly he said if it was the case that the office lacked sufficient resources it needed to say so and such resources must be provided as a matter of urgency.
“Is it the case that our laws are inadequate? If they are then they need to be changed by the legislature to make sure this never happens again,” he said.
Ireland has suffered huge reputational damage for what happened in the banking system, and that was being compounded by the delays in investigation, he said. He pointed out that Ireland had also been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights for its prosecutorial delay.