Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the Deputy earlier, I want to be very careful, particularly in the context of the public debate that took place recently on the setting up of a tribunal on certain disclosures and in the context of the debate taking place in the Dáil today. I wish to be very clear in recognising that there are truths in our society that need a form of inquiry. At each point of the process are the people and then the Oireachtas, and Governments have had to respond to the question of how we can get to those truths. All the information the Deputy has asked for I have given him, and all the information I have shared with the committee is in the spirit of recognising the need to deal correctly and fairly with certain matters. Alongside this, the issue of cost must be considered. For this very reason, the House, this Government and the previous Government developed the concept of commissions of inquiry and investigation. They offer a different way of dealing with the kinds of truths we are debating and they have brought a different level of predictability and control to costs that the taxpayer may face. It is incumbent on all of us - and this is the attitude that has been shown by colleagues here - to be aware that as we consider the form of inquiry that is necessary, we are also conscious of issues that will develop in the future regarding how we conduct inquiries. This is a matter on which the Comptroller and Auditor General has already commented. The Comptroller and Auditor General said in a report in 2008, "The State faces a considerable challenge to achieve predictability and financial control in the case of tribunals of inquiry which operate under the authority of the legislature without compromising their independent investigations or the constitutional rights of witnesses." This points to a challenge we have, that is, even if we do all the work we can on issues such as rates payable to legal counsel, once the Oireachtas makes a decision on the setting up of an independent commission of inquiry or a tribunal, parties to that then have rights that they will seek to have vindicated. We then must trust, as we do, a person of standing in our State to make decisions about the conduct of that commission, which invests in him or her an independence. Alongside this, my Department will do all it can, as will the Department of Justice and Equality, to ensure that this work is done in an affordable and sustainable way.