Justice Brian Cregan to meet officials over IBRC inquiry

Government officials will meet with Mr Justice Brian Cregan on Friday to discuss his concerns over the commission of inquiry into transactions at the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

An interim report published yesterday found the six largest write-offs led to a combined loss of almost €1 billion to the taxpayer.

Mr Justice Cregan, who led the investigation, has said he does not have adequate powers to complete the task given to him by the Government and needs legislative change to allow him continue.

He has also asked for more resources, including the assistance of another judge, to help with his inquiry.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the judge had requested a meeting with Government officials to discuss these issues and said the meeting would take place this afternoon.

"There isn't anyone in the Oireachtas who doesn't want to comply with the intent of what the commission was asked to do."

The Taoiseach said he had also written to opposition leaders seeking their views on how to proceed with the IBRC investigation.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said while he welcomed the invitation, he was "cynical" about whether it would amount to serious engagement between the Government and the Opposition.

Describing the "fiasco" as a "failure of epic proportions by the Taoiseach", Mr Adams said he and his Sinn Féin colleagues had been raising concerns about transactions relating to Siteserv since 2012, but had been "told to move along"

The inquiry into transactions at the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) found that the six largest write offs led to a combined loss of almost €1 billion to the taxpayer.

Mr Justice Cregan said the investigation into all 38 transactions which led to a loss of more that €10 million, as requested by the Government, would take “several years”.

Mr Justice Cregan has also proposed prioritising a number of transactions that led to the largest write-offs, which he claimed could be completed in less than two years.

The total value of the write offs of all 38 transactions is €1.9billon.