Emily O’Reilly criticises ECB over letter from Jean-Claude Trichet to Lenihan

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has reiterated her criticism of the European Central Bank for failing to publish a letter sent by Jean-Claude Trichet to the late Brian Lenihan at the height of the Irish financial crisis.

Speaking to The Irish Times following the publication of the ombudsman's annual report yesterday in Brussels, Ms O'Reilly said the bank had exercised "excessive caution" in not consenting to disclose the contents of the former ECB president's November 2010 letter, despite a request from the ombudsman.

“To my mind, there is a principle of transparency, and to the full extent possible records should be released unless harm is going to be done. In our view no harm was going to be done by the release of that letter,” she said.

Stress tests

Ms O’Reilly, who met

current ECB president Mario Draghi earlier this year, said he had indicated that the contents of the letter may be disclosed following the results of European stress tests later this year.

He told the European Parliament the ECB's governing council would discuss the issue of whether Mr Trichet should appear before the Irish banking inquiry.

The office of the ombudsman is charged with holding European Union institutions accountable to citizens and investigating allegations of maladministration in the EU. While EU institutions are not obliged to comply with the ombudsman's recommendations, they do so in 80 per cent of cases.

Supervisory responsibility

Ms O’Reilly said that

given the ECB's new supervisory powers – which will see the Frankfurt-based bank take over supervisory responsibility for the euro zone's largest banks, including AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB later this year – the bank will face greater transparency demands.

“We’ve said to them that it is essential that their processes related to potential conflicts of interest are as robust as possible,” Ms O’Reilly said.

The ombudsman’s report, published yesterday, shows the office received more than 23,000 complaints from members of the public and opened 341 inquiries last year.

Ms O'Reilly also announced plans yesterday to step up her office's investigation into the practice of "revolving doors" in the European Commission, whereby staff members leave to work for employers outside the EU institutions.

In particular, she has called on the commission to publish the names of senior commission officials who leave to work for the private sector.