Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
13. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach if commissions of investigation under the aegis of his Department have been allocated additional funding as a consequence of the wind-down of the strategic communications unit, SCU. [29281/18]
View answerThe commissions of investigation for which I am the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 are the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, commission of investigation and the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, commission of investigation.
Following consultations with the Opposition parties by the then Minister for Finance, the IBRC commission of investigation was established in June 2015. Mr. Justice Brian Cregan is the sole member of the commission. The commission is required to investigate certain transactions, activities and management decisions at the IBRC and in its first module it is investigating the Siteserv transaction, which has been identified as a matter of significant public concern in Dáil Éireann. Following a number of requests from the commission and further consultation with Opposition parties, its deadline for reporting has been extended to the end of 2018.
The NAMA commission of investigation was established in June 2017 following consultation with Opposition parties by Government. Mr. Justice John Cooke is the commission's sole member. In its first module the commission is charged with investigating matters of significant public concern regarding the disposal by NAMA of its Northern Ireland loan portfolio, referred to as Project Eagle. Following a request from the commission, its deadline for reporting has been extended to the end of 2018.
The commissions are entirely independent in their work and I have no information on the status of their investigations other than in relation to administrative matters for which I am responsible as the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.
At the end of April, a further Revised Estimate for my Department was voted through the House. This reduced my Department's 2018 net budget allocation by €2.5 million from €35.89 million to €33.39 million. This budget reduction followed the decision of Government to wind down the strategic communications unit on foot of the comprehensive review of the operation of the SCU which was completed by the Secretary General to the Government.
I found the Taoiseach's reply on health issues and the health budget overrun to be helpless and hopeless because, notwithstanding his experience of that Department, he is throwing in the towel on being able to influence it.
When the SCU was closed down, there was an indication, as the Taoiseach said in his reply, that there would be significant savings. In respect of the commission of investigation and the Taoiseach's visit to the Tuam site, does he think it would be possible to transfer some of the savings from the SCU to carry out the wishes of the survivors and the families affected, mostly from Mayo and Galway, who may have had relatives, either women who gave birth to children or babies who were born and died there, to have a full excavation of the site? My understanding is that the investigation would be costly. I do not know if the Taoiseach has managed to visit St. Patrick's on the Navan Road in our constituency. More than 2,000 babies died there and, as local people have always said, they "died like flies" from a variety of diseases in the mother and baby home. Most of them are buried in Glasnevin Cemetery but people who lived there or who were born there want a full and proper investigation. Is there any chance that the Taoiseach could divert the savings from the SCU to something that would be an actual reparation for what happened to those in mother and baby homes?
Mr. Justice Cooke's report on NAMA, in particular the module one investigation of Project Eagle, which was to have been published at the end of June 2018, was extended to the end of December because of NAMA's failure to hand over all documentation relating to the sale of Project Eagle. I understand NAMA is now co-operating on that. Will that deadline for publication be met as indicated in the commission's first report?
I am sorry to tell the Deputy that there were not significant savings. The Department's Estimate was voted through the House in April and by then the decision had been made to shut down the SCU. The money was never voted to the Department, thus the voted Estimate to the Department was €2.5 million less than was provided for in the budget and the savings never arose.
The mother and baby homes commission is under way. We look forward to receiving its report as soon as it is ready but these are independent commissions. While there might be an accountable Minister for them, they act independently. We need to allow them do their work and we can consider it when it arrives but I do not wish to interfere in the work of a commission of investigation in any way nor would it be appropriate to do so.
I do not have the date for Deputy McDonald on the other commission but I will see if I can get it and I will write to her if we have it.
