Banking Inquiry report mostly meets requirements for publication, legal counsel says
By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith and Daniel McConnell
The Banking Inquiry's patched-together report has overcome one of its most important hurdles, after the crisis-hit investigation's legal team said the document meets the requirements for it to be published.
The senior counsel for the inquiry told the cross-party group in a legal review tonight that while the file is not perfect, it will only need minor changes during a day-long meeting on Thursday before it can be sent out to individuals named in it for an unavoidable right-of-reply process.
After a fortnight of drama surrounding the report which saw two drafts, a number of timeline changes, one late night emergency meeting, and two inquiry members saying they could sign off on the file, a final version of the report was sent for legal review on Monday morning.
The senior counsel who oversaw the review then had three days to give her verdict on whether the document was suitable for publication.
Banking Inquiry members were believed to split on whether the report was good enough to be published, with some claiming it would not meet the necessary standards and others suggesting too many changes had been made to make publication worthwhile.
However, in a legal review sent to the inquiry tonight, the senior counsel said the report - while far from perfect - is suitable for publication as long as a small number of relatively minor changes are made.
The inquiry - including Socialist TD Joe Higgins and Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty, who have both already confirmed they will not sign off on the report - will now meet throughout Thursday to make the necessary amendments.
Under a strict timeline that is linked directly to the general election, the inquiry must send out the final version of the report - complete with legal changes - to individuals named in it for an unavoidable right of reply process on Friday.
The inquiry will then meet again on December 29 and 30 to consider any further changes as a result of the responses it receives, before sending the document back to legal officials on New Year's Eve.
The investigation's legal team will then have until January 4 to finalise the report and respond to those named in it whether their rights-of-reply recommendations have been accepted or not, before an unavoidable 21-day cooling off period required under the Oireachtas Inquiries Act governing the inquiry's work takes place.
Any further delay in the inquiry's work would fatally damage the investigation, with the committee having just one day spare between its planned January 27 publication date and the legal cut-off point for when it can be released.
