Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I share many of the concerns the Deputies have articulated. It is a matter for the House to re-engage collectively to work out the best models of investigations. When the commissions of investigation legislation was introduced originally by the then Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, it was with a view to having more efficient and expeditious inquiries to replace the tribunals of inquiry, which were deemed to be going on far too long and were very expensive and costly. The constitutional framework guaranteeing people's rights and liberties, such as the right to their good name and so on, is the overarching framework within which we all have to operate. That is clear. We need to work collectively on this into the future.

I am also of the view that very often, the fact that we have to set up commissions of investigation is a reflection of our existing systems of oversight. We have the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, for example, which is there to hold the Garda accountable, yet we leapfrog those systems immediately in this House when we want an inquiry. Very often, there are regulatory authorities in place right across the board and we need to re-examine them. The existing regulatory authorities are the ones that should be engaging in issues that require examination, oversight and investigation, with a view to not having to have the types of large and comprehensive investigations we have commissioned and sought in this House. We have oversight bodies, such as HIQA in health, and we have to work to make them clearly independent in serving the public interest and dealing with issues long before they become the subject matter of specific investigations commissioned by Dáil Éireann.

As regards third-party costs, we do not quite know what the full cost of this particular commission of investigation is going to be. I have read the ninth interim report of the commission. The draft final report will have to be circulated to all affected parties for their comments and so they can review it and make submissions to the commission. The commission is of the view that that will take two to three months and it considers it will be in a position to submit its final report by 31 October. It has stated that about 75% of its draft report is concluded. It is on target to meet that October deadline. There is a wider discussions to be had by the House on these issues.

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