Both the Minister for Finance and the Department of Finance have received a wide range of correspondence and reports from the Central Bank over the past nine years. The same applies to the Financial Regulator since it was established in May 2003. Allegations of overcharging have been made against various financial institutions over that period and were investigated by the Central Bank or Financial Regulator, as appropriate, and I have received reports on some of these investigations, some of which, specifically in relation to AIB, were published by the Financial Regulator in July and December 2004 and were the subject of an enquiry by an Oireachtas Committee at that time.
I have been informed that the Financial Regulator wrote last week to the Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Economic and Regulatory Affairs — of which the Deputy is a member — in response to issues raised at discussions with the Committee on 24 March last by a former bank official. The Financial Regulator also issued an extensive public statement addressing those issues and I believe that officials from the Financial Regulator will appear before the Joint Committee on 8 April to discuss the issues raised. I understand that a report on irregular dealings in AIB shares up to 2001 was investigated by the Central Bank — the supervisor of banks prior to May 2003 but was not communicated to the Department of Finance due to the confidentiality obligations.
