Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----that this office was set up to oversee companies and to deal with those that stepped out of line. It has its independence and statutory authority and therefore it was not subject, and is not subject, to direction by the Minister or the Government, although it was set up by the Government for a very specific purpose. When the current director was appointed with effect from August 2012, the ODCE's investigation on the FitzPatrick case had been completed and the file passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The scale and complexity of the investigation into the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank was unprecedented in the history of the State, as Deputy Micheál Martin pointed out.

In light of the complexities of modern corporate law enforcement, the current director has overseen a number of organisational improvements in the ODCE.

Those improvements include reorganising the structures of the office, recruiting additional expertise, most notably five forensic accountants, because clearly in the determination of the case in the first place the forensic analysis was not strong enough. A digital forensic specialist is due to begin with the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement in the coming weeks. Fundamentally, it has amended the investigative procedures used by the office with members of the Garda Síochána now taking the lead on all criminal investigations. This is where there has clearly been a weakness in the system. While the ODCE may deal with civil cases at a lower level, when it comes to serious criminal law, we need to be able to deal with it with serious criminal forensic intent. That obviously was not what was followed here, as outlined by Judge Aylmer in his comments yesterday. There have been a number of successful prosecutions. Clearly the judge has made a decision. The trial is over and Mr. FitzPatrick is a free man. The taxpayer takes up the tab here. The Minister has requested a full and detailed report from the director of the ODCE. The Minister will come before the Dáil, make her statement and answer questions. The director is prepared to go before the appropriate Oireachtas committee. The Government will reflect on this next week and when the report from the director becomes available to the Minister, it will be published and made available for everybody. We need to reflect on the fundamental question here.

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