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

The only ongoing commission of investigation for which I am the specified Minister is the National Asset Management Agency Commission of Investigation. As with all such commissions, it is fully independent in its work. The NAMA commission was established in June 2017, following consultations with Oireachtas 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 and consultation with Oireachtas parties, its timeframe for reporting has been extended. Most recently, in February 2023, I granted a further request for an extension, this time until the end of October 2023. From the time of its establishment to 16 May 2023, the commission has cost approximately €5.5 million excluding third-party legal costs incurred but not yet paid and which will be considered by the commission at the end of its investigation.

I take this opportunity to refer to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Commission of Investigation, for which I was also the specified Minister until last week when I received its final report, which went to Government today. 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.

The commission’s original deadline for reporting was 31 December 2015 but following requests from the commission, and after consultation with 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 both the Dáil and Seanad.

In October 2022, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, accepted the commission’s recommendation that it would serve no useful purpose to investigate the remaining 37 transactions covered by its terms of reference. The commission’s substantive work was complete at that stage and on 25 May 2023, it submitted its final report to me, which deals with the costs of the commission as well as its reflections on, and suggestions for, reform of commissions of investigation generally.

The Government has now agreed that the final report will be published and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. It has also agreed that the Minister for Justice, in consultation with the Oireachtas as appropriate, will consider the suggestions made by the commission in its final report for reform of the commission of investigation process.

While the final cost of the commission is currently being finalised, we expect it will be in the region of €19 million, including the cost of third-party legal cost claims that were considered by the commission in respect of witnesses who appeared before it. This figure does not include the cost of any further legal challenges that might arise. The commission was dissolved on 25 May 2023 upon submission of its final report in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions in the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004.

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