The ex-Secretary General of the Department of Finance says personal attacks on civil servants over the Siteserv deal are “regrettable".

In a statement, John Moran has described comments made by former IBRC chairman Alan Dukes about him as 'a step back to pre-crisis mindsets among bank management'.

It came after Mr Dukes told reporters his relationship with the Department of Finance deteriorated after a failed request by John Moran to join the board of IBRC, something Mr Moran has strongly denied.

Speaking on Talking Point with Sarah Carey on Newstalk this afternoon, Mr Dukes says he felt the appointment would not have been appropriate:

You can listen back to the full Talking Point discussion on Siteserv via the podcast below:

Yesterday Taoiseach Enda Kenny says a Commission of Investigation into the sale of assets by the former Anglo Irish Bank would take a very long time.

Mr Kenny is backing the holding of a review which will see IBRC liquidators examine every deal which saw a loss to the taxpayer of more than €10m.

He says the review - sparked by controversy over the sale of Siteserv to Denis O'Brien's Millington at a loss of over €100m - is to be completed by August and referred to Oireachtas Committees.

Meanwhile, SiteServ owner Denis O'Brien said he was not in control of the sale process when he was buying the construction company from IBRC, at a loss to the taxpayer of €100m.

Mr O'Brien said he was merely the buyer and was not aware of what was happening between the Department of Finance and IBRC at the time.

He also said he would be happy to appear before the PAC on the issue if he is asked.

A Cabinet minister had earlier said it would be a "mistake" to order a Commission of Investigation into the sale of Siteserv.

Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have criticised the review announced by Finance Minister Michael Noonan earlier this week.