Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Bill is due to be introduced next year. We have taken steps in the interim under which commissions of inquiry can be regarded as an alternative to full-blown tribunals of inquiry and can assist in avoiding the cost ramifications experienced in recent decades in respect of the latter. In a way, the Oireachtas has acted to ensure that, pending the introduction of the Bill to which the Deputy refers, there is an alternative model available to it should issues worthy of inquiry arise.

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