Richard Bruton was told that an investigator destroyed documents in the case two days after it happened

Richard Bruton was aware that the lead investigator in the Seán FitzPatrick case shredded trial documents two days after it happened but has said that he kept silent to avoid prejudicing the case.

Mr Bruton, the former jobs and enterprise minister, said that Ian Drennan, the director of corporate enforcement, told him on May 6, 2015, that the lead investigating solicitor in the former Anglo Irish Bank chief’s case had shredded the documents. The minister said that he and Mr Drennan believed that the destruction “could come to public and media attention very shortly” and that they needed to discuss the implications.

Mr Bruton, who is now the education minister, confirmed yesterday that he met with Mr Drennan in May 2015. The meeting was not