Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

So I now propose that the committee of inquiry goes back into public session, is that agreed? Agreed. And doing so, we'll move on with session 2 of today's hearings with Mr. David Doyle, former Secretary General, Department of Finance. The Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is now resuming in public session and can I ask members and those in the public Gallery to ensure that their mobile devices are switched off. Today, we continue our hearings with senior officials from the Department of Finance who had key roles during the crisis period. At our first session this afternoon, we will hear from Mr. David Doyle, former Secretary General, Department of Finance. David Doyle joined the Department of Finance in 1975. He was second secretary in the public expenditure division from early 2001 to June 2006, when he succeeded Tom Considine as Secretary General. He retired in January 2010.

Mr. Doyle, you are very welcome before the committee this afternoon. Before hearing from the witness, I wish to advise the witness that by virtue of Section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If you are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence in relation to a particular matter and you continue to do so, you are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of your evidence. You are directed that only evidence connected with this subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. I would remind members and those present that there are currently criminal proceedings ongoing and further criminal proceedings are scheduled during the lifetime of the inquiry which overlap with the subject matter of the inquiry. Therefore, the utmost caution should be taken not to prejudice those proceedings. Members of the public are reminded that photography is prohibited in the committee room. To assist the smooth running of the inquiry, we will display certain documents on the screens here in the committee room. For those sitting in the Gallery, these documents will be displayed on the screen to your left and right. Members of the public and journalists are reminded that these documents are confidential and they should not publish any of the documents so displayed.

The witness has been directed to attend this meeting of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. You have been furnished with booklets of core documents. These are before the committee, will be relied upon in questioning and form part of the evidence of the inquiry. So with that said, if I can now ask the clerk to administer the oath of affirmation to Mr. Doyle, please.