Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Section 3(3) states that the "order establishing a commission shall specify" the matter to be investigated and, in paragraph (b), "the Minister responsible for overseeing administrative matters relating to the establishment of the commission, for receiving its reports and for performing any other functions given to him or her under this Act." I presume that if a commission is established under the auspices of, for instance, the Minister for Health and Children, its cost will appear in the annual Estimate of the Department of Health and Children. Will the costs be covered by the relevant Department in the same way as the cost of the Mahon tribunal, for instance, is included in the Estimate of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government?

Subsection (4) states: "A commission may be established under this section even if the matter considered by the Government to be of significant public concern arose before the passing of this Act." I presume the message the Government is sending to the House is that some of the existing workload of the tribunals could be transferred to various commissions for investigation to get a cost efficient and speedy resolution. I also presume this does not in any way preclude some matters not yet publicly aired at the tribunals from forming part of a new commission. Will the Minister of State comment? The fourth interim report by Judge Mahon makes clear that it could take 11 years to bring all matters to public attention. Whether this is a cry for help or for more precise terms of reference, I presume the Government may want to address the matter in the autumn. Is it correct that this subsection (4) gives the Oireachtas and the Government the right to establish new commissions which could assume some of the workload of the tribunals?