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

I can be shorter than that on this occasion. This is a commission of investigation and I need to be careful what I say about it. I answered a question earlier with regard to former Deputy Dara Murphy. I can confirm, however, that the Standards in Public Office Commission can investigate a former Member in relation to his or her conduct as a Member. The former Deputy, Dara Murphy, has said that he is willing to co-operate fully with any statutory investigation. I believe he should do so and I said this to him last night.

The Cregan commission is a commission of investigation established by the Dáil. It was demanded by the Opposition at the time. There was some reluctance in Government to do it, but the Government acceded to the demands of the Opposition at the time to establish the commission. As it is a commission of investigation that operates independently of Government - it is a little bit like a court or a tribunal in that regard - we cannot interfere in its work. The figure of €30 million is an estimate by my officials. It is based on the costs incurred to date and the costs trajectory of other commissions of investigation. We accept that it is only an estimate.

With regard to the timeframe for reporting, the accountability for the commission of investigation is set out in the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. The establishment of a commission is by way of a Government order that has been approved in draft by both Houses of the Oireachtas. The order identifies a specified Minister who is responsible for receiving the interim and final reports, for granting any extensions of timeframe, and for other administrative tasks. As the Members are aware, the previous Taoiseach and I consulted Oireachtas representatives at every stage where a decision was required on IBRC. Following a request from the commission in its fourth interim report, which I received on 10 June, I extended the reporting deadline to the end of this year. I have no information to indicate that the deadline will not be met. Based on this, we anticipate another report before the end of this year, and we will see if that happens.

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