Gardaí carried out searches today at the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank in St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
The searches were conducted as part of an investigation led by the Director of Corporate Enforcement.
Search teams acting on court warrants went into the bank's offices just after 9.00 this morning. The officers carrying out the searches are from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
They applied for warrants to search at least three separate office buildings which form part of the Anglo Irish complex in Dublin city centre.
The search warrants were issued by the Dublin District Court yesterday afternoon following applications by members of the Garda Fraud Bureau investigating suspected breaches of company law.
Eight Gardaí are already assigned to the offices of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and have been investigating the affairs of Anglo Irish Bank
The Garda Commissioner assigned another eight to assist in the investigation, and they - along with staff from the director's office - are carrying out today's searches.
Unlike ODCE civilian staff, Gardaí can apply to the courts for search warrants and have the power of arrest and detention for use in criminal investigations.
Anglo board 'wants full co-operation'
The Taoiseach has reiterated that the Garda investigation in Anglo Irish Bank must be allowed to take its course. He also said that we are currently in a battle for the country's economic stability.
Speaking in the Dáil, Brian Cowen said that it was the view of the Anglo board that there should be full co-operation from the staff with the investigating Gardaí.
He was responding to a question from the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who asked if full co-operation from Anglo workers would be forthcoming.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he believed the reaction of most people on hearing about the Anglo Garda inquiry would be 'about time'.
No 'critical' outflow - Lenihan
Meanwhile, Independent Senator Shane Ross has told the Seanad that billions of euro left this country for overseas last week as panic is beginning to take place in the money markets. He said the Irish economy is at the 11th hour, and that we are close to a national disaster.
He agreed with Labour Senator Alex White thats it was 'crazy' to wait for the Commission on Taxation to report before necessary actions are taken.
Asked on RTE Radio's Drivetime if there had been an outflow of funds from the country, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said there had been stresses in the financial markets in recent weeks and 'some outflow of funds' but he said this had not reached critical levels.
