Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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I welcome everyone to the 15th public hearing of the Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. In our sessions today we will focus on the theme of relationships between State authorities, political parties, elected representatives, supervisory authorities, banking institutions and the property sector. Later this morning we will hear from the former The Irish Timesjournalist Mr. Frank McDonald, but in our first session we will hear from Dr. Elaine Byrne, a consultant for the European Commission on corruption and governance. She is also a journalist with The Sunday Business Post. During her career she has worked as a governance consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank and Transparency International. She has also held academic appointments at Trinity College Dublin and the University of New South Wales. She has published widely on Irish politics and is the author of Political Corruption in Ireland, 1922-2010: A Crooked Harp. She was nominated for three national media awards for investigative journalism for her work on allegations of political impropriety. She is very welcome.

By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. If they are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given. As informed previously, the committee is asking witnesses 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 by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I invite Dr. Byrne to make her opening statment.