February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The Green Party, the junior partner alongside Fianna F_il in the coalition government, has stated that it is reasonably confident that the inquiry will contain strong public elements, this following a meeting between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Green Party leader, John Gormley.
Green Party chairman and finance spokesman, Dan Boyle, said that he believed the government would opt for a “hybrid” inquiry, with both a private and public phase. This would satisfy the demands of the Greens that it be open and public, with meaningful involvement by the D_il and Seanad (Senate).
Cowen and Gormley met for almost an hour to work out early differences of approach between the parties to the inquiry.
Boyle said Gormley had put forward a few principles at the meeting. These were that the inquiry be public, open, have Oireachtas involvement and that it be an informed process.
“I think what you are going to see, hopefully, is some kind of a hybrid whereby there will be an expert involvement made up of people with experience and expertise in the field to provide source documents for an Oireachtas grouping to hold public hearings,” said Boyle.
Brian Cowen, meanwhile, has said he has no problem complying with whatever procedures the “Commission of Investigation” into the banking system decides to proceed with. Cowen was responding in the D_il to Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who had asked if Cowen would assent to the investigation’s hearing, in public session, about policy decisions he (Cowen) had made as both Finance Minister and Taoiseach.
The investigation will be covering the doings of Irish banks up until September, 2008. Some opposition politicians want it to also focus on events since that time period.