The judge running the commission of investigation into IBRC has officially asked for more judges to be appointed to help speed up his work.
Judge Brian Cregan says there are so many transactions to investigate, it's impossible to say how long his job will take.
The Commission's job is to inquire into transactions that saw IBRC write off debts of more than €10 million euro. There are 38 such transactions, with total writeoffs of €1.9 billion.
Judge Cregan says it's not in the public interest to have to wait for several years, while he investigates each of those 38 investigations.
He has also disclosed that he appears to have personal conflicts of interest in some of those cases - and therefore has recommended that at least one other judge be appointed to the inquiry, both to speed up its work and to resolve any potential conflicts of interest involving Cregan himself.
In the meantime the sale of SiteServ assets to a firm backed by Denis O'Brien, and five other transactions resulting in write-offs of over €100 million, will be investigated first, along with six other transactions involving write-offs of over €50 million.
A further six transactions involve sums over €30 million but these have not been prioritised for the time being.
However Judge Cregan's interim report also says many of the items in his terms of reference can't be investigated.
For example, he says IBRC (previously Anglo Irish Bank) did not have a standard interest rate for major customers - and so it is impossible to say whether some customers benefitted from having their rates cut to a 'special' lower rate.
He also says it's impossible to investigate claims of insider trading involving SiteServ - where an unusual volume of shares were traded in the run-up to its sale - because the Stock Exchange has a duty of professional secrecy over any records.
Cregan is also forbidden from contacting SiteServ to seek its input because the company itself no longer exists, and therefore does not appear in the Register of Companies - which is required in order for it to engage with the Commission.
One of IBRC's special liquidators, KPMG's Kieran Wallace, is also the liquidator of SiteServ plc - and has indicated that he is willing to get High Court permission to re-establish the company so that it can engage with the inquiry.
Justice Cregan also says the Central Bank has professional secrecy obligations on many of its documents - so it will be difficult to get needed documents there either.
He elsewhere outlines the previously disclosed problems in getting information from IBRC's liquidators and from the Department of Finance - but believes these problems could be overcome by changes to the law on inquiries.
However the Central Bank issues are grounded in European law and not domestic legislation - and so any change to Irish law would not be sufficient to overcome those legal hurdles.
