Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is salutary to look at the length of time for which these commissions have been under way and the projected costs. I am conscious that they have not yet concluded. The Siteserv inquiry will be over seven years in existence when it reaches its latest deadline at the end of August. The Taoiseach outlined that there has been another five month extension and that the cost according to his Department's estimate is likely to be about €30 million, which is more than double what the commission originally estimated the final cost would be. Could the Taoiseach indicate if it is envisaged that the work of the Siteserv inquiry is likely to be extended again beyond this August and confirm whether that will then increase the level of projected cost?

On the NAMA commission of investigation, which has now been in existence for five years, is it expected that it will report by the end of June 2022 and, again, will the cost exceed the projected €10 million? When commissions of investigation were introduced in 2004, the intention was that they would replace in a much more cost effective and time limited way the pre-existing tribunals of inquiry. They have mushroomed and morphed into effectively the same entities as the tribunals of inquiry. Does the Government have any immediate plans to ensure this will not happen in any future commissions of investigation such that we can see them return to the more trimmed down and nimble entitles they were supposed to be?

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