Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 April 2017
36. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether a commission of investigation should be established into the sale of Project Eagle, in view of the gravity of the Committee of Public Accounts' report on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16621/17]
View answerI refer to the commission of investigation into Project Eagle. I ask the Minister for Finance to outline his views, given that we have discussed the report of the Committee of Public Accounts on the sale of Project Eagle and, acknowledging the restrictions that were placed on the committee in terms of its reach, that a commission of investigation not be prevented from dealing with fixer fees and so on. Is it now the view of the Minister that he supports the establishment of a commission of investigation into the sale of Project Eagle?
Following the publication of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, the Taoiseach met party leaders in September 2016 and received submissions from them on the issue. At a subsequent meeting with party leaders in October, there was agreement in principle to establish a commission of investigation. That remains the Government's position. It is the Government's policy to establish a commission of investigation.
Since then, the Committee of Public Accounts has undertaken extensive hearings and has received extensive verbal and documentary evidence from NAMA, the Department of Finance, many of the companies involved in the Project Eagle bidding process and me. The committee has published a detailed report which has been discussed in the Dáil. It documents the committee's support for a commission of investigation.
Before the Government makes a decision on how to proceed, it will be important to receive and discuss proposed terms of reference for such a commission of investigation from those parties interested in its establishment. I expect each party, through its respective leader, to contribute to the drafting of agreed terms of reference.
I thank the Minister. I take it from his contribution that there will be a commission of investigation into NAMA and the sale of Project Eagle. The Minister will be aware that six months ago Sinn Féin provided terms of reference and will engage with the Taoiseach regarding ensuring the terms of reference are robust enough.
At a meeting at which I represented the party, we made the case very strongly that the commission of investigation would have to take a modular approach and Project Eagle be the initial module. However, other areas would need to come under the scope of the commission of investigation. I understand that viewpoint was shared by others at the meeting.
The minutes of the meeting that took place on 4 October stated that a commission of investigation should be established to allow for a modular approach, called for steps to be taken to establish the commission immediately, before the Committee of Public Accounts completed its report, and recommended that the commission not be sponsored by the Department of Finance. Can the Minister confirm that is still the position of the Department and the Government?
Is it the case that the commission of investigation will not be sponsored by the Department of Finance and will be modular? I ask the Minister to outline his views on whether the commission of investigation will be modular, which would allow for other areas outside the sale of Project Eagle to be included.
As I said, before the Government makes a decision on how to proceed it will be important to receive and discuss proposed terms of reference from party leaders and other interested parties. In so far as the Department of Finance is concerned, I would expect that the Department and Minister for Finance will be within the scope of the terms of reference. As a consequence, it would be inappropriate for it to be the parent Department for the commission of inquiry. The intention in October was that the parent Department would be the Department of the Taoiseach.
The Minister's reply, which I welcome, referred to what is required. Does the Government or the Minister, who will have an input, have a timeframe for the establishment of the commission of investigation? Will it be established before the summer recess or in 2017? Can the Minister give the House an indication of the likely timeframe, subject to agreement with other party leaders and the approval of the terms of reference by the Houses?
Given the manner in which I expect the terms of reference to develop, the Department of Finance would be an interested party and would stand back from the process, which would be the appropriate thing to do. The Deputy should direct any further questions to the Taoiseach to find out what the position might be.
