The banking inquiry was told last night that its final report could be delayed until January 2016.

The committee was due to report by 30 November but it warned earlier this week that the deadline could be missed.

The delay is due primarily to the ongoing review into whistleblower allegations.

The committee faces the risk that if a general election is called before it has finalised its report, no findings would be made as the committee would dissolve.

Members agreed ways last night to try to speed up the process in a bid to avoid it spilling into next year.

It will hold more private sessions in early September and will be available over August.

The timeline is a draft report and has to be agreed.

People mentioned have to be contacted and given an opportunity to respond, then the final report has to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Another issue is that the Dáil and Seanad must be sitting for the report to be accepted.

This causes an issue over the Christmas break when they rise for around four weeks, returning in the second or third week of January.

Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath said it was imperative to mitigate the risk of the inquiry's report being impacted by an election, particularly given that so many resources had gone into the committee.

He also said a vital element of the final report will be the key policy lessons for the country and it would be far better to have a rational debate about those in the absence of the heated political environment which was inevitable at election time.