Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The Deputy will be aware that the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 was passed by this House in order to avoid huge tribunal expenses. One of the elements that is part of the Bill is that instead of having the right of examination, cross-examination and adversarial procedure, the chairman of a commission is obliged to make available any finding to any person likely to be affected by it in draft form before finalising the chairman's report. The law is that the person who receives it is entitled to go back to the chairperson and have it corrected or, if the chairperson refuses to correct it, to apply to the High Court to have it corrected. That is in substitution for the adversarial procedure and panoply that we have in the public tribunals of inquiry. Therefore, it is a very valuable safeguard for the citizen that what is put in a draft report and circulated to everybody who is affected by it, and necessarily third party interests are an issue, should be the subject of confidentiality. This Act was passed by this House three years ago.

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