Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This morning, on foot of parliamentary questions tabled by my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, further revelations have emerged about the Anglo tape controversy. We know that in 2010 the Garda seized significant quantities of electronic and hard-copy documents and recordings in respect of 18 employees of the former Anglo Irish Bank whose telephone conversations were recorded. The Central Bank was unaware of the existence of these tapes as was the Government, which has been in office for almost two and a half years. The public was also unaware of their existence until the tapes were leaked by the media. Several parties seem to have had access to the tapes. It appears that we are to remain in the dark until further tapes are leaked to and reported on by the media.

I am of the view that it is inconceivable that senior management at the former Anglo Irish Bank did not know about these tapes, particularly in light of the fact that the Garda sought and secured court orders in respect of them in 2010. It must be remembered that Alan Dukes was appointed to the bank as a public interest director as long ago as December 2008. By 2010 he was being paid the handsome sum of €127,000 per year for his troubles. As the Tánaiste is aware, he became chairperson of the bank in that year. Of course, he was not the only political appointee to the board of the bank. The former Fianna Fáil Senator Aidan Eames was appointed to the board in June 2010 by the previous Fianna Fáil Government. Now that it knows about the tapes, the Central Bank views them as serious and is investigating matters in order to assess whether regulatory breaches occurred. One of the public interest directors, Alan Dukes, did not inform the Central Bank of the existence of the tapes. It also seems that neither he nor Aidan Eames informed the Government of their existence. These individuals were supposedly appointed to protect and defend the public interest. It is not clear whether the tapes were provided to the Nyberg banking commission when it was investigating matters. Will the Tánaiste clarify whether the tapes were provided to the Nyberg banking commission? In the context of the public interest directors who were politically appointed to the board of the bank and who did not inform the Central Bank about the existence of the tapes for over three years, will the Tánaiste outline the questions the Government has put to these individuals and indicate how it proposes to proceed in respect of this matter?

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