Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

On a slightly left-field note, this country is also dealing with a big problem relating to commissions of investigation. For example, the NAMA investigation established in June 2017 was meant to be completed in 2018 but now has an extension until December 2021 at least. It has spent approximately €2.5 million but that figure is likely to reach approximately €10 million. There is also the Siteserv commission of investigation established in 2015. I recall the Government of the time was rocked by it in 2015. It had an estimated cost of €4 million but it is still rumbling on. I think it was the Minister himself who estimated it could top out at €30 million, while some analysts have said it could top out at approximately €70 million. It strikes me that there is a need for a permanent office of investigation rather than just creating ad hoccommissions for each crisis. Would it not be a reasonable proposition to build a fully resourced office for commissions of investigation into corporate misgovernance, fraud and crime in this area so that we do not have to deal with these never-ending investigations with unlimited budgets?

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