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

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

The IBRC commission was established in June 2015 following consultation with Oireachtas parties. It is investigating certain transactions, activities and management decisions at the IBRC and in its first module it is investigating the Siteserv transaction. Its original deadline was 31 December 2015 but following several requests from the commission, and after consultation with the Opposition, its timeframe for reporting has been extended. Most recently, in October this year, I granted a further request for an extension, this time until the end of March 2022. From the time of its establishment to the end of October 2021, the commission cost €10.75 million approximately, excluding third-party legal costs that have been incurred but not yet paid, which will be a matter for the commission to determine at the end of its investigation.

In its seventh interim report in February 2020, the commission of investigation estimated that the final cost of the Siteserv investigation will be between €12 million and €14.5 million. This estimate assumed the investigation would be completed by the end of 2020 and not the end of March 2022 as is now the case, and excluded costs or delays associated with possible judicial review hearings. The commission also acknowledged that it involved a substantial degree of uncertainty regarding the amount of costs actually recoverable by the parties before it and assumed its legal costs guidelines are not successfully challenged.

The NAMA commission of investigation was established in June 2017 following consultations with Opposition parties to investigate the sale by NAMA of its Northern Ireland portfolio, known as Project Eagle. Its original deadline for reporting was 31 June 2018 but following several requests from the commission, its timeframe for reporting has also been extended. Most recently, in September 2021, I granted a further request for an extension, this time until the end of December 2021. From the time of its establishment to the end of October 2021, the commission cost €3.75 million approximately, excluding any third-party legal costs incurred but not yet paid and which will be considered by the commission at the end of its investigation.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The estimated cost for the NAMA commission of investigation when it was established was €10 million approximately, excluding the cost of any litigation that may arise. The commission has not provided an updated estimate for the cost of its investigation but the expenditure incurred to date suggests it is unlikely to exceed the original estimate.

The Fennelly commission is the only other commission of investigation for which the Taoiseach was the specified Minister in the past decade. Its work related to certain allegations made by Garda Maurice McCabe and its final report was completed in March 2017. The total cost of that commission of investigation was €3,528,658.

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