It has been announced that the public hearings of the Banking Inquiry will officially end today.
The Committee is now embarking on the final phase of its work leading to its final report. This involves the analysis and review of evidence, obtaining clarification of material evidence from witnesses, and the compilation of books of core documents for publication with the final report.
When the public hearings conclude this afternoon, the Committee will have heard oral evidence from 128 witnesses over 49 days since last December.
In a statement, Banking Inquiry Committee Chairman, Ciaran Lynch commented, "Today is the final day of public hearings of the Banking Inquiry – an inquiry that was established to serve the Irish people, to get the answers to questions about the banking crisis and to ensure that a crisis of this nature is never visited upon the Irish people again.
"The banking crisis was, and remains, one of the most traumatic events in modern Irish history – it has impacted on homes, families and communities throughout our country."
He further added, "The real strength of the Inquiry is its ability not just to look at one document in isolation but to draw together the different strands from various sources, along with key public testimony, to get a better picture of what happened, to put in place the pieces of the jigsaw which made up the banking crisis.
"Over the coming months, the Committee and its team will work on bringing together all of the ingredients for its final report."
Source: www.businessworld.ie