The Oireachtas Banking Inquiry will begin its public hearings in less than two weeks time.

It has been confirmed that the committee will start to hear public evidence from experts on December 17 and 18.

Finnish banking expert Peter Nyberg, and former Canadian civil servant Rob Wright, will be the first public witnesses.

Nyberg wrote a 2011 report which found the banks’ willingness to offer loans for high-risk commercial property was a central factor in the crisis. Wright is author of a report on the way the Department of Finance was run.

The hearings will initially focus on the background to the financial crisis before turning to the crisis itself next year.