Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The commissions of investigation for which I am the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 are the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, commission of investigation and the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, commission of investigation.

Following consultations with the Opposition parties by the then Minister for Finance, the IBRC commission of investigation was established in June 2015. Mr. Justice Brian Cregan is the sole member of the commission. The commission is required to investigate certain transactions, activities and management decisions at the IBRC and in its first module it is investigating the Siteserv transaction, which has been identified as a matter of significant public concern in Dáil Éireann. Following a number of requests from the commission and further consultation with Opposition parties, its deadline for reporting has been extended to the end of 2018.

The NAMA commission of investigation was established in June 2017 following consultation with Opposition parties by Government. Mr. Justice John Cooke is the commission's sole member. In its first module the commission is charged with investigating matters of significant public concern regarding the disposal by NAMA of its Northern Ireland loan portfolio, referred to as Project Eagle. Following a request from the commission, its deadline for reporting has been extended to the end of 2018.

The commissions are entirely independent in their work and I have no information on the status of their investigations other than in relation to administrative matters for which I am responsible as the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.

At the end of April, a further Revised Estimate for my Department was voted through the House. This reduced my Department's 2018 net budget allocation by €2.5 million from €35.89 million to €33.39 million. This budget reduction followed the decision of Government to wind down the strategic communications unit on foot of the comprehensive review of the operation of the SCU which was completed by the Secretary General to the Government.

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