Commissions of Investigation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 February 2017

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

Ceisteanna (85, 86)

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

85. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Taoiseach the status of the commission of investigation into IBRC. [6040/17]

Seán Fleming

Ceist:

86. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Taoiseach the number of commissions of inquiry or other formal investigations or inquiries being conducted in his Department; the name of these; the date they were established; the expected date the work is intended to be completed; the cost incurred to date; and the estimated final cost. [6365/17]

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table.

Name of Commission of Investigation	Date Established	Completion Date	Costs Incurred by Department of the Taoiseach to end December 2016*	Estimated Final Cost
Fennelly Commission	30 April 2014	Final Report is due by the end of March 2017.	€3.03 million	Expected to be in the region of €3.5 million.
IBRC Commission	16 June 2015	Final report on the first module of the Commission's work, in relation to the Siteserv transaction, is due by the end of December 2017.	€1.52 million	The IBRC Commission indicated in its Interim Report that significant third party costs have been incurred which are likely to arise for payment in due course. It is estimated that the approximate final cost will be in excess of €10 million.
Moriarty Tribunal	1997	Final report was published in March 2011	€54.742 million	It will not be possible to ascertain the final cost of the Tribunal until all third-party costs have been settled.

* It should be noted that figures provided for 2016 are provisional and may be subject to end of year revisions, as part of the preparation of my Department's 2016 Appropriation Account.

The Fennelly and IBRC Commissions are currently conducting their inquiries. They are statutory bodies established under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 and are independent in the conduct of their investigations. As specified Minister in relation to the Commissions, I am responsible for overseeing administrative matters relating to their establishment, for receiving their reports and for performing any other functions given to me under the Act.

The Moriarty Tribunal completed its enquiries and published its final in March 2011. A small legal and administrative staff remains in place to deal with applications for third-party costs and with the ongoing business of wind-down. The Tribunal is also subject to a number of legal proceedings for which it uses its own legal resources as much as possible.