Banking Inquiry to hear from Dr Elaine Byrne and Frank McDonald

11/03/2015

The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry will hear from Dr Elaine Byrne and Frank McDonald tomorrow, Thursday, 12th March as part of its context phase hearings on relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector.

Chairman Ciarán Lynch TD: “Dr Elaine Byrne is a specialist on corruption and governance with particular reference to white-collar crime, regulation and political finance. Dr Byrne has also published on deliberative democracy, Irish political parties and nineteenth and twentieth century Irish history. In 2012, she was appointed as the Irish Expert on corruption to the European Commission. Dr Byrne has lectured with the Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin where she was the module director for Comparative Political Reform and Irish Politics. Her first book, Political Corruption in Ireland 1922-2010: A Crooked Harp? was the first comprehensive review of Irish corruption and the second biggest selling tome for Manchester University Press in 2012. She is a leading campaigner on political reform and is a regular media commentator and contributor.

“Frank McDonald was the Irish Times’ Environment Correspondent from 1985 to 2000 and then Environment Editor until his official retirement in January of this year. He is author of several books including The Destruction of Dublin, Saving the City and The Construction of Dublin and joint author with Peigín Doyle of Ireland’s Earthen Houses, with James Nix of Chaos at the Crossroads, which documented environmental damage in Ireland during the boom years, and with Kathy Sheridan of The Builders, profiling the developers and others during the so-called Celtic Tiger era.

“Dr Elaine Byrne and Frank McDonald will both be addressing the Committee on on relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector.”

The schedule for the hearings is:

Thursday, 12th March Session A: 9.30 am – 11.30 am Committee Room 3

Dr Elaine Byrne on relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector

Thursday, 12th March Session B: 11.45 am – 1.45 pm Committee Room 3

Frank McDonald on relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector

Further information on the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry proceedings can be accessed on this website.

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

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