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PAC left short 50 bank guarantee docs

Friday, July 30 14:26:04

Fifty documents deemed by the Government as "subject to legal privilege" or were "institution specific" were not released to the Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC), it said today.

The PAC has published a schedule of the key documents relating to the bank guarantee scheme which were not provided to it by the Department of Finance.

The PAC had previously received and published documentation on the planning that went on in the Department of Finance leading up to the implementation of the bank guarantee scheme on 29th September 2008.

"The Committee was somewhat disappointed that we did not receive the full schedule of documents regarding the bank guarantee scheme. In order for the Committee to establish if the taxpayer has received value for money we are keen to have access to all the relevant information," its Chairman, Bernard Allen, said.

"We accept that there are certain documents containing advice from the Attorney General which are subject to legal privilege. However, I believe that copies of the letters containng the questions which prompted the advice from the Attorney General should be made freely available to the Committee. This is why we have asked the Secretary General of the Department of Finance to look through each of these privileged documents with a view to the Committee being given copies of the letters to the Attorney General which resulted in this advice," it said.