Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As we have a quorum, the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is now in public session. Today's agenda is item No.1, a discussion with Professor Patrick Honohan on the report for the Minister for Finance by the Governor of the Central Bank entitled The Irish Banking Crisis, Regulatory and Financial Stability Policy 2003 - 2008. I welcome everyone to the third public hearing of this committee and, in particular, I welcome the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan.

The tenth Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Professor Patrick Honohan, was appointed on 26 September 2009. Before his appointment as Governor, he was professor of international financial economics and development at Trinity College, Dublin, from 2007. Prior to this, he spent almost a decade at the World Bank where he was senior adviser on financial sector policy. He was previously a research professor with the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, economic adviser to the former Taoiseach, the late Dr. Garret FitzGerald, and spent several years as an economist at the Central Bank of Ireland and at the International Monetary Fund, IMF. A graduate of University College Dublin, UCD, he received his PhD in economics from the London School of Economics in 1978. He has taught economics at the London School of Economics, the University of California, San Diego, the Australian National University, UCD and Trinity College, Dublin. In recent years his research has mainly focused on monetary and financial sector policy.

In February 2010, the then Minister for Finance, the late former Deputy Brian Lenihan, requested the Governor of the Central Bank to conduct a preliminary investigation into the performance of the respective functions of the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator over the period from the establishment of the Financial Regulator to the end of September 2008. Governor Honohan's report was published at the end of May 2010. It is important to remind the committee that Professor Honohan is here to discuss his report alone. We will have an opportunity to discuss other matters with him, including the bank bailout, during the next phase of the inquiry which will commence in April 2015, at which time we expect the Governor to appear before this committee again.

I wish to advise the witness that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, he is protected by absolute privilege in respect of his evidence to this committee. However, if he is directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continues to so do, he is entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of his evidence. He is directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and is asked to refrain from discussing named individuals in this phase of the inquiry. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I now invite Professor Honohan to make his opening remarks.