IBRC inquiry dead-lock could be resolved through new powers in one-off legislation

The legal dead-lock which has impeded an investigation into the wind-up of theIrish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) could be broken by giving the commission the powers of a High Court judge, The Irish Times reports.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has given opposition leaders an insight into his proposal for helping Mr Justice Brian Cregan, chair of the commission investigating the IBRC, overcome certain legal issues.

In a letter to opposition leaders, Mr Kenny suggested “a bespoke piece of legislation” that would give the commission the same powers, privileges and rights as a judge of the High Court.

It would be a one-off piece of legislation giving the commission similar powers to a tribunal of inquiry, but operating differently in terms of regular review and reporting to Government.

The commission is examining 37 transactions involving write-offs worth more than €10 million, but stumbled over its ability to consider sensitive financial documents held by the Department of Finance and KPMG as evidence.

KPMG asserted a duty of confidentiality over all of the documents it provided to the commission, and legal advice privilege over all documents containing legal advice.

The Department of Finance, which reportedly raised confidentiality concerns as early as August 2015, made similar claims over some of the documentation it provided.

In an interim report, Judge Cregan said the commission was “not in a position to proceed with its investigation into any of the relevant ‘write-off’ transactions”.