Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is the Moriarty tribunal and then there are the Cregan and Cooke investigations. As the committee is aware, the Moriarty tribunal was established in October 1997 and published its first report in 2006, with its second report in March 2011. Following completion of its final report the tribunal is dealing with applications for third-party costs. The tribunal is also subject to a number of legal proceedings. The total amount paid by this Department in respect of the tribunal from its inception in 1997 up to the end of April 2021 was €66.3 million. It will not be possible to ascertain the overall cost until all third-party costs have been settled. Provision of €4.209 million is included in the Estimates for 2021.

The Cregan commission of investigation, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, commission, was established by Government order in June 2015 following consultation with Oireachtas parties. The commission was originally required to investigate certain transactions, activities and management decisions of the IBRC between January 2009 and February 2013. Mr. Justice Cregan submitted an interim report in November 2015 that raised a number of significant issues that had arisen with regard to legal and professional privilege, banking confidentiality, and where the commission considered changes were required to its terms of reference. New legislation, the Commission of Investigation (Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) Act 2016, was enacted to provide a new legal basis for the commission.

The commission’s terms of reference were amended following consultation with the Opposition representatives to provide that the first module of its work was the transaction with Siteserv plc.

In 2020, a total expenditure of €2.2 million was incurred by the IBRC commission with costs since its establishment in 2015 of €9.9 million. The commission’s original deadline for reporting, as members know, was 31 December 2015. The commission submitted its ninth interim report on 8 April 2021 in which it requested a further extension of it timeframe for reporting on the Siteserv transaction, until 31 October 2021. The Taoiseach granted the commission’s request for a further extension to its timeframe to report, given the apparent advanced stage of preparation of its final report. If the commission’s request was not granted it would have effectively dissolves the commission with no findings to show for in return for the substantial costs incurred to date and those incurred but not yet paid.

In relation to the Cooke commission of investigation, the NAMA commission was established on 3 June 2017. Mr. Justice John Cooke is the commission’s sole member. In the first module of its work, the commission is charged with investigating the sale by NAMA of its Project Eagle portfolio. The commission’s original deadline for reporting was 31 June 2018, but following several requests from the commission, its timeframe for reporting has been extended. Most recently, in March 2021, the Taoiseach granted the commission’s request for an extension of its timeframe for reporting until the end of September 2021.

In 2020, a total expenditure of €855,000 was incurred by the NAMA commission with a total cost since its establishment in 2017 of €3 million. There is a provision in the 2021 Estimates for both commissions for €4.43 million.