Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 14 together.

The IBRC Commission of Investigation was established in June 2015 following consultation with Oireachtas parties to investigate certain transactions, activities and management decisions at the IBRC, beginning with the Siteserv transaction in its first module. The commission’s original deadline for reporting was 31 December 2015 but following requests from the commission, and after consultation with Oireachtas parties, its timeframe for reporting was extended on multiple occasions.

The commission’s report on the Siteserv transaction was received in July 2022 and it was subsequently published and debated in the Dáil and Seanad. In October 2022, the then Taoiseach accepted the commission’s recommendation in its 13th interim report that it should not pursue investigation of the remaining 37 transactions covered by its terms of reference as it is of the view that no useful purpose would be served by investigating them. Accordingly, the commission’s investigation is now complete other than finalising its work on the costs payable to witnesses who appeared before it.

The commission originally envisaged that it would complete its work on costs by the end of March 2023 but in its 15th interim report, dated 16 March 2023, the commission requested an extension until the end of May 2023 to complete this work. I granted the commission’s request and arranged for a copy of its 15th interim report to be published and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

From the time of its establishment in June 2015, to the end of March 2023, the commission spent approximately €13.1 million. This figure does not include third party legal costs which have been incurred but not paid and which are a matter for the commission to determine. The final cost for the commission will become clear only when all the cost orders are made and when any possible legal challenges that may arise are resolved.

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