Both Houses of the Oireachtas passed a resolution on 28 March 2002 providing for the establishment of a tribunal under the Tribunal of Inquiry Act to inquire urgently into certain defined matters of urgent public importance relating to complaints regarding some gardaí of the Donegal division. These defined matters constitute the terms of reference of the tribunal and are based on the recommendations of a senior counsel who was nominated by the Bar Council and examined all the relevant papers held by the Garda Síochána, the Department and the Garda Complaints Board.