Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Where an institution like the religious congregations chose not to recognise the oldest committee of the sovereign Parliament and appear before it, it is unconscionable that we are left without any instruments to cause them to come and be examined on a matter of such public interest and which has a scale of exposure for the taxpayer like few we have seen in the history of the State. In that respect we see parliamentary inspectors generally taking evidence in private, without legal and other representation by other parties, to submit written reports, the book of evidence, so to speak, on matters of established fact which could be used as the basis for further investigation, including tribunals.

On the other hand, such an inspection could not arrive at conclusions on disputed issues of fact. As the Minister has provided in this Bill, on the conclusion of an investigation, the investigator would prepare a written report, based on the evidence received, setting out the facts established in regard to the matters referred for investigation. In other words, the function of an investigator would be to undertake the preliminary investigation and, in so far as possible, establish the factual position. In many circumstances that would be sufficient. Where the investigator is unable to establish clear facts, however, the report of a parliamentary investigator would, if necessary, be followed by either a formal parliamentary inquiry or a tribunal of inquiry, as appropriate.

It would then be a matter for the parliamentary committee to consider the reports of the parliamentary investigator and to make recommendations as to whether a further inquiry was required. Among the options open would be a choice between Oireachtas or judicial inquiry. Remarkably, there is not a million miles between our proposition and what the Minister is advancing. The net difference, however, is that the Minister's system of investigation is Government-driven. It is not a matter for the Oireachtas except in so far as the Oireachtas approves the Minister's proposal, and since Government is normally elected in this House on the basis of a majority, the Oireachtas will approve it automatically. That is the major difference between what I advocate and what the Government is doing.

We need alternatives to the system of tribunals of inquiry as we have known it, and there ought to be a number of such alternatives. There are certain examples in company law which are helpful in terms of the role of inspectors and so on. The kind of commission the Minister is now establishing will make a contribution but I ask him to re-think the particular area where initiation, terms of reference and membership of the commission are to be appointed and specified by the Minister. That is a weakness. Other than that, I am happy to support the Minster's measure.

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