Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This needs much more analysis. The IBRC commission will be six years old in June. It is investigating 38 transactions in which there was a loss of €10 million or more in the former Anglo Irish Bank but has been been working on Siteserv alone for its whole existence. It was reported on thecurrency.newsthat the commission had completed approximately three quarters of its draft report, or 900 pages, and the full report should be completed by the end of June.

The projected cost when it was set up in 2015 was, amazingly, €4 million. It is laughable. According to estimates by thecurrency.news, it has cost up to €70 million so far. When we add up its costs - there were also 100 witnesses - they amount to just under €80,000 per page. If this is the case, and I accept it is an "if" but I am relaying what has been reported, it will cost more than what was received by the IBRC. That is laughable, and I believe the Taoiseach agrees with me.

The Taoiseach has commented in the past that he has deep concerns about this matter. Those comments are at odds with what he has said publicly both in his response today and in response to parliamentary questions I have asked. Costs of €9.4 million have been incurred to date, according to what he has just said. I know the Government has granted an extension but what is the real estimate? The commission must have a budget for going forward. What does the Government estimate this will end up costing? Is the figure of €30 million accurate or is €70 million more accurate? There is a huge difference between those figures. The Taoiseach expressed serious concerns in January 2019, while in opposition, regarding the costs and delays. He stated:

It is now an issue of concern that an inquiry can drag on for so long and at such expense. The Taoiseach is now estimating that the commission will cost €30 million, which is extraordinary, particularly when compared to inquiries in other countries which do not take the same length of time or incur the same level of costs.

Those are the Taoiseach's words, not mine. It is quite obvious that we need to rethink such commissions and I think the Taoiseach agrees with me. We cannot be setting up such commissions and then have the estimated costs and timeframe go out the window. We could run into this issue again as other matters arise down the road and we face them in Parliament. What is the Taoiseach's view on the timeline and final costs for this investigation? Does he accept that the current costs, as stated, are nowhere near the mark? What are we going to do about future commissions, in order that they can reach decisions and have reasonable costs? The current model is not working.

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