A consultant to be hired in coming weeks by the Oireachtas banking inquiry will the have the power to recommend witnesses to be called to public hearings of the investigation, tender documents reveal.
The inquiry has also indicated in the documents that its work will concentrate on the 2008 guarantee, the role of the European Central Bank and the “psychology” of the crisis.
The inquiry will set an ambitious timetable for the conclusion of preparatory work by the consultant, who will provide key technical briefings to TDs and Senators on the investigating committee.
The inquiry, chaired by Labour TD Ciarán Lynch, will be carried out in two steps: a “context” phase, to frame the scope of the investigation; and a “nexus” phase, to identify key questions to be addressed in public hearings, conduct such hearings and write the final report.
The tender documents suggest the consultant would start work in November on a five-month contract and complete a “context report” for consideration by the committee by the end of February or March.
The “context” phase will tackle five topics:
Findings and recommendations of previous reports.
International, EU and domestic policy context, including key findings of reports of international monitoring agencies.
Relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector.
Early warnings, divergent and contrarian views.
The role of the media.
The document, published on the eTenders website, suggests the inquiry members will be seeking briefings on a broad range of topics linked to the banking collapse, including:
Banking: lending practices and credit control policies, risk management, funding and liquidity management;
Role of the ECB: Refinancing Operations and Emergency Liquidity Assistance;
Regulatory policies, structures and practices in the Central Bank;
Nature, cost and scope of the Bank guarantee;
Psychology of the crisis (groupthink, herd instinct etc);
Commercial property exposures and mortgage exposures.
“Following this, there will be public hearings with relevant witnesses,” the document states.
After that the committee is to publish an interim report.
The document suggests the inquiry will be guided by a powerful steering group comprising a senior investigator, a legal advisor and a co-ordinator.
Three lead investigators will examine banking; supervision and regulation; and the management of the crisis.
“During the context phase, the committee will meet with relevant witnesses to inform the nexus phase. These will include previous report authors, in order to discuss their findings and hear their views on changes made/weaknesses remaining,” the document says.
“The committee will consider reports from international monitoring agencies on the subject matter of the inquiry, and relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector, and the role of the media, and will engage with relevant persons, including those who gave warnings or expressed divergent views to the prevailing consensus.”
The document adds: “The nexus phase will include a preparatory investigation process, which will run in parallel to the context phase and will continue alongside public hearings.
“It will be important to have a strong line of communication between the consultant appointed and the investigation team on key issues arising in the context phase.”
