Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The commissions of investigation are not working in many ways. Justice delayed is justice denied and what we see happening at the moment are commissions of never-ending investigation. Accountability is simply not happening. It has been argued in the Dáil previously that commissions of investigation are used to kick issues into touch and take them out of the political environment. The IBRC commission of investigation was set up following a scandal that broke in 2015. It was an incredible issue which has just disappeared from most people's consciousness. Deputy Michéal Martin is the third Taoiseach to be in a position to grant an extension to that particular commission of investigation.

The financial costs to the State of these commissions of investigation are eye-watering. We are talking about massive amounts of money. A previous Taoiseach admitted that the final cost for the IBRC commission could exceed €30 million. This means that €30 million is taken away from some sector in society that really needs it. The NAMA commission of investigation was meant to be completed in June 2018 at a cost of €10 million but the costs are spiralling on these commissions of investigation.

I have a proposal which I would like the Taoiseach to address. The Oireachtas is currently discussing various Bills dealing with white-collar crime, one of which deals with corporate authority. The Oireachtas is also dealing with legislation to give further powers to the Central Bank to enhance its ability to tackle white-collar crime. It is now necessary to reform this whole area and create one State investigation authority to deal with all white-collar crime in our society. We must build an authority that will be able to investigate this area properly. It must be of a sufficient size and have the personnel with the requisite skills and knowledge to deal with all of these elements of society. Reform in this area must mean that investigations are done expeditiously and not at massive cost to the State so that justice happens in real time, the people involved in wrongdoing are punished in real time and there is real-time accountability.

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