About the Inquiry

On 14 May 2014, a Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis, chaired by Ciarán Lynch, TD, was established by orders of both houses (Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann). The committee was tasked with the development of a relevant proposal for an inquiry into certain aspects of the banking crisis. The purpose of the inquiry is to seek to establish the reasons Ireland experienced a systemic banking crisis (as required by its Terms of Reference).

The Joint Committee met on seven occasions between 19 June and 24 September 2014 to draft the Relevant Proposal and was assisted in its work by a support group with relevant knowledge and expertise. The support group issued a progress report on 23 July 2014 and its draft final report was presented on the 17 September 2014.

On 26 September 2014, the Committee submitted its Relevant Proposal to the Committees on Procedure and Privileges of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann for the Conduct of an Inquiry in accordance with the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013 into Certain Aspects of Ireland’s Banking Crisis.

On Wednesday, 26 November 2014 the Committee was formally empowered to conduct an inquiry under Part 2 of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013.

The Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is the first inquiry to be carried out under this legislation.

The Banking Inquiry website has been available since 15 December 2014 with the intention of providing members of the public with access to live public sessions, hearing transcripts and evidence (where relevant). The website saw  considerable traffic during the period of the public hearings ( to 10 September 2015) — summary details are available here: Banking Inquiry Website Analytics

Rights of person identified in evidence

The Committee was committed to meeting its obligations in terms of fair procedures and takes these obligations very seriously. If a person was identifiable from evidence given, the Committee sent a transcript of the relevant part of the meeting to that person. Further details are available here: Furnishing Transcripts