Tanaiste welcomes ruling by judge

The High Court ruling that the Ansbacher report should be published in full was welcomed by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney.

The High Court ruling that the Ansbacher report should be published in full was welcomed by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney.

Ms Harney instigated the first inquiry into Ansbacher Cayman Ltd in 1998 when she commissioned an authorised officer to draw up a confidential report on the bank.

"It has always been my strong view that the findings of this investigation should be put into the public domain and I very much welcome the decision of Justice Finnegan to allow this to happen," the Tánaiste said yesterday.

The Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr Paul Appleby, described the High Court decision as momentous.

READ MORE

He said there were names in the Ansbacher report which would shock people but he did not want to dramatise the matter. Most names in the report would not be known to the general public.

There had been a lot of "hype" in relation to the Ansbacher deposits and maybe it had become a little "overblown", Mr Appleby said.

Over the coming weeks and months, his office would examine the report for evidence of possible breaches of company law, but it was a matter for the Revenue Commissioners or foreign revenue authorities to decide if some of the account-holders had tax liabilities.

The High Court decision was also welcomed by Fine Gael.

Mr Phil Hogan, Fine Gael's enterprise, trade and employment spokesman, said it was important to publish and explain all such matters "in the interests of transparency and fairness".

"It is imperative to establish the motivation regarding the establishment of these deposits and to get the necessary clarification regarding the legal or illegal position in respect of each account at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.

However, the Labour Party's enterprise spokesman, Mr Tommy Broughan, criticised the decision to defer the report's publication for a week and said the Government "almost seems to be inviting further legal challenge".

He said it was nearly five years since Mr Justice McCracken's report drew attention to the accounts.

"It is over 2½ years since the High Court inspectors were appointed," Mr Broughan added. "The public is entitled to know the full story of these accounts and it is inexplicable that the Government should now have sought to defer publication for another week."

The delay in publication meant the Dáil would have gone into recess before it was released and so the Oireachtas would not be able to debate it before the autumn.

The Green Party also urged the Tánaiste to publish the report as quickly as possible. Mr Eamon Ryan, its enterprise, trade and employment spokesman, said there was speculation that lawyers would seek to launch legal challenges to protect their clients' interests.

He said the Green Party "wholeheartedly welcomed" Mr Justice Finnegan's ruling.

Sinn Féin TD Mr Seán Crowe said the Ansbacher accounts were not an aberration. Successive governments had created an atmosphere which allowed Ansbacher account-holders to flourish, he said.

"It is time also to learn the lessons of Ansbacher and other financial scandals and bring forward proper rules and regulations to prevent the wealthy and the well-connected from avoiding paying their fair share."