Banking Inquiry to hear from Brian Cowen

01/07/2015

The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry will continue hearings with senior officials from the Department of Finance who had key roles during the Crisis period tomorrow, Thursday, 2nd July when it will hear from Brian Cowen.

The schedule for the meeting in Committee Room 1, Leinster House is:

Session 1: 9.30 am – 1pm

Brian Cowen, former Taoiseach and Minister for Finance

Session 3: 2.30 pm – 6.00 pm

Brian Cowen, former Taoiseach and Minister for Finance

Chairman Ciaran Lynch TD said: “Tomorrow we continue our hearings with senior officials from the Department of Finance who had key roles during the Crisis period when we will hear from Brian Cowen, former Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. Brian Cowen was a TD for Laois-Offaly from June 1984 until February 2011. He held several senior positions in government and served as Minister for Finance from September 2004 until May 2008, when he succeeded Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach.

“At tomorrow morning’s session, we will broadly focus on Mr Cowen’s tenure as Minister for Finance, from his appointment until the general election in 2007. In the afternoon’s session we will broadly focus on Mr Cowen’s tenure as Minister for Finance, from the general election in 2007 until his appointed as Taoiseach in May 2008. At our meeting with Mr Cowen next week, we will focus on his tenure as Taoiseach.

“Among the lines of inquiry the Committee will address with Mr Cowen in the coming meetings are: the effectiveness and appropriateness of the supervision policy and powers; the appropriateness of the macro-economic and prudential policy ; the adequacy of the assessment and communication of both solvency and liquidity risks in the banking institutions and sector; the awareness and clarity of roles and accountability amongst the regulatory and supervisory institutions of the state; the nature and appropriateness of the relationship between the Central Bank including the Financial Regulator, the Department of Finance and the banking institutions; and the effectiveness of the communication between the Central Bank and the Department of Finance.

“Other areas of interest are: the appropriateness of the expert advice sought, quality of analysis of the advice and how effectively this advice was used; the analysis and consideration of the response to contrarian views, both internal and external; the effectiveness of the Oireachtas in scrutinising public policy on the banking sector and the economy; the appropriateness of the advice from the Department of Finance to Government and the use thereof by Government; an analysis of the key drivers for budget policy; and the appropriateness of the relationships between Government, the Oireachtas, the banking sector and the property sector.”

Further information on the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry can be accessed on this website. Full committee proceedings will be webcast live on this website, while Oireachtas TV will broadcast proceedings from 2.30pm-6pm.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.

All media enquiries in relation to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry should be addressed to:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551

All general enquiries should be directed to the Committee Secretariat.

e. contactbankinquiry@oireachtas.ie
t. +353 1 618 3651

Committee Membership

Deputies

Ciarán Lynch (Chairman)
Pearse Doherty
Joe Higgins
Michael McGrath
Eoghan Murphy
Kieran O’Donnell
John Paul Phelan

Senators

Sean D Barrett
Michael D’Arcy
Marc MacSharry
Susan O’Keeffe

Note to editors: In the interests of making the Inquiry as accessible as possible, the Committee publishes witness statements on its website as they are presented by a witness. Following the publication in the media of information from witness statements ahead of scheduled public hearings, the committee recently changed its procedures to ensure that opening statements from witnesses are deemed confidential until published on its website. Publication of confidential documents is a breach of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013 and may constitute an offence.