Public inquiries in the Republic of Ireland

In Ireland, there are several kinds of public inquiry. A Tribunal of Inquiry, often simply called a tribunal, is a powerful type of statutory inquiry whose procedures are governed by the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 as amended.[1] An Oireachtas inquiry is a less powerful non-statutory inquiry controlled directly by the Oireachtas (parliament). A 2013 proposal to strengthen the power of Oireachtas inquiries was defeated at a referendum. The Law Reform Commission published a report in 2005 examining the operation of public inquiries and recommending changes.[2] A commission of investigation is a different form of inquiry, with evidence generally given in private; provided by the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 to address scandals relating to medical care and child abuse.[3][4]

Tribunals of inquiry

Tribunals have been held to address many political controversies, increasing in frequency since the Beef Tribunal of the early 1990s. While they have been the subject of many dramatic revelations in Irish politics, they have also become known for running long beyond their intended length – the longest being the Mahon Tribunal (previously the Flood Tribunal) which began in 1997 and issued its final report in 2013.

The Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 was enacted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before the setting up of the Irish Free State and as such remains in the Republic of Ireland.[5] It has, however, been amended since by several Acts of the Oireachtas. The chair of the inquiry is mandated by the Oireachtas (following resolutions in both the Dáil and the Seanad) to carry out the inquiry into matters of urgent public importance by a Warrant of Appointment. The terms of reference of the inquiry are given as part of that warrant.

Tribunals of Inquiry are established by the Oireachtas where the evidence of malfeasance might not be enough to secure a criminal conviction, but where public policy requires answers. Critics of the system say that tribunals: are relatively toothless; may give witnesses immunity that they would not obtain from a court; allow legal representation to all parties, resulting in a higher final cost to the State than the cost of the original malfeasance; and that they can delay difficult political decisions.[6] The Comptroller and Auditor General published a report in 2008 into the cost of Tribunals of Inquiry and making recommendations. It noted that 50%–85% of the cost of recent tribunals had been legal fees for third parties, as distinct from administration and the tribunal's own legal fees.[7]

Tribunals of Inquiry are invested with the powers, privileges and rights of the High Court. It is not a function of a Tribunal to administer justice; their work is solely inquisitorial. Tribunals are required to report their findings to the Oireachtas. They have the power to enforce the attendance and examination of witnesses and the production of relevant documents. Tribunals may consist of one or more persons, though the practise has been to appoint a Sole Member. Tribunals may sit with or without Assessors (who are not Tribunal members). Sittings are usually held in public but can, at the Tribunal's discretion, be held in private.

List

Tribunals of inquiry since the foundation of the state in 1922[8]

Name	Subject	Member(s)[n 1]	Dáil resolution[n 2]	Seanad resolution[n 2]	Ministerial order[n 3]	Report laid[n 4]	Cost[n 5]
Food Prices Tribunal	Retail prices of "articles in general consumption"	Samuel Lombard Brown, Joseph Johnston, John Busteed, Richard A. Butler, Máire Ní Chinnéide, Bryan Cooper, Thomas Farren, J. F. Maguire, Patrick Shaw[9]	16 December 1925	27 January 1926			£1,667[n 6][10]
Ports and Harbours Tribunal	Ports and harbours	H.B. O'Hanlon, C.H. O'Conor, Michael Keegan	19 January 1926	27 January 1926	12 May 1926	1930
	Shooting of Timothy Coughlan	George P. Cussen, Cyril Beatty, J. S. Troy[11]	15 February 1928	15 February 1928		14 April 1928[12]
Grain Inquiry Tribunal	Whether mixture of maize meal and maize products with home-grown cereals would be in the national interest	J.J. McElligott, Joseph Whelehan, J.H. Hinchcliff	27 November 1929	28 November 1929	29 November 1929	12 October 1931
	Marketing of butter	John Dulanty, John P. Colbert, Thomas Duggan, Michael B. McAuliffe, Patrick Vaughan[13]	30 April 1930	14 May 1930		December 1930 (interim report[n 7])
Pig Industries Tribunal	Promotion of pig production	Henry J. O'Friel, Daniel Twomey, Joseph B. Whelehan, Patrick A. Rogan	5 May 1933	11 May 1933	18 May 1933	26 January 1934
	Grading etc. of Fruit and Vegetables	Henry J. O'Friel, Joseph B. Whelehan, Hugh Bradley	12 December 1934	19 December 1934	21 March 1935	14 September 1940
Town Tenants (Occupation Tenancies)	Hardships in rented urban accommodation	William Black, et al.[15]	13 December 1935	18 December 1935	1936[15]	early in 1941[15]
	Pearse Street fire	Martin C Maguire, William Ian Bloomer, William Maguire	25 November 1936	N/A[n 8]	5 January 1937	15 September 1937	£622[16]
Public Transport	Public transport	Joseph Ingram	7 December 1938	7 December 1938		1939
	Fire at St. Josephs Orphanage, Cavan	Joseph A. McCarthy, James J. Comerford, Mary E. Hackett	3 March 1943	10 March 1943	25 March 1943	17 September 1943
	Dealings in Great Southern Railways Stocks between 1/1/1943 and 18/11/1943	A.K. Overend, Cahir Davitt, Barra Ó Briain	24 November 1943	25 November 1943	1 December 1943	20 September 1944
Ward Tribunal	Allegations by Patrick McCarvill against Conn Ward, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health	John O'Byrne, Kevin Haugh, William G. Shannon	5 June 1946	5 June 1946	7 June 1946	1946	£4,389[17]
	Supply of milk for the Dublin sale district	Martin C. Maguire, Robert A. O. O'Meara, William C. Kenny	30 November 1944	6 December 1944	1 March 1945	8 July 1947	£650[18]
	Disposal of Locke's Distillery, Kilbeggan	John O'Byrne, Kevin Haugh, Cahir Davitt	5 November 1947	6 November 1947	7 November 1947	20 December 1947
Cross Channel Freight Rates	Shipping between Ireland and Great Britain	Pádhraic Ó Slatarra, F. Vaughan Buckley, John J. Walsh	23 October 1957	13 November 1957	19 November 1957	12 June 1959	£2,989[19]
	Pay of clerical-grade public servants	Gerard Quinn, Edward J. Gray, Charles McCarthy, Cathal O'Shannon, Joseph S. Quigley	3 October 1965	10 October 1965	30 November 1965	25 May 1966
	Death of Liam O'Mahony in Garda custody	William FitzGerald, George D. Murnaghan, John Charles Conroy	18 July 1967	19 July 1967	19 July 1967	1 December 1967	£13,000[20]
Tribunal on Teacher's Salaries	Teachers' salaries	Louden Ryan, Ernest Benson, Maurice P. Cosgrave, L.M. Fitzgerald, Cathal O'Shannon			15 December 1967	23 May 1968
	"Seven Days" Television programme on Illegal Moneylending	Seán de Buitléir, A. Denis Pringle, Patrick O'T—	18 December 1969	17 December 1969	22 December 1969	5 August 1970
	Allegations made in the Dáil by Bobby Molloy and Brendan Crinion against James Tully, the Minister For Local Government	Séamus Henchy, Weldon R.C. Parke, John Charles Conroy	3 July 1975	4 July 1975	4 July 1975	1 August 1975
Costello Inquiry	Whiddy Island Disaster	Declan Costello	6 March 1979	6 March 1979	9 April 1979	26 July 1980
	Fire at Stardust Club, Artane	Ronan Keane	18 February 1981	19 February 1981	20 February 1981	12 November 1982
Kerry Babies Tribunal	Kerry Babies case	Kevin Lynch	11 December 1984	12 December 1984	13 December 1984	4 October 1985	£1.645m[21]
Beef Tribunal	Beef Processing Industry	Liam Hamilton[22]	24 May 1991	29 May 1991	31 May 1991	9 August 1994	€27.233m[23][24]
Finlay Tribunal	Hepatitis C infection of pregnant women from Rho(D) immune globulin	Thomas Finlay	17 October 1996	17 October 1996	24 October 1996	11 March 1997	€4.57m[23][24]
McCracken Tribunal	Alleged Payments by Dunnes Stores	Brian McCracken	6 February 1997	6 February 1997		25 August 1997	€6.56m[23][24]
Moriarty Tribunal	Payments by Ben Dunne to Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry	Michael Moriarty	11 September 1997	18 September 1997	26 September 1997	December 2006 (Pt 1) March 2011 (Pt 2)	€46.15m[n 9]
Mahon Tribunal	Planning matters (including rezoning by Dublin local authorities)	Alan Mahon, with Mary Faherty and Gerald Keys; prev Feargus Flood	7 October 1997 / 1 July 1998 / 5 July 2001 / 28 March 2002 / 3 July 2003 / 17 November 2004[n 10]	8 October 1997 / 2 July 1998 / 5 July 2001 / 28 March 2002 / 4 July 2003 / 17 November 2004[n 10]	4 November 1997 / 15 July 1998 / 24 October 2002 / 7 July 2003 / 3 December 2004[n 10][25]	22 March 2012 (Vol I-IV); 31 July 2013 (Vol V)	€159m[n 11]
Lindsay Tribunal	HIV and Hepatitis C infection of haemophiliacs	Alison Lindsay	2 June 1999	2 June 1999		5 September 2002	€46.649m[23]
Barr Tribunal	shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara, County Longford on 20 April 2000	Robert Barr	17 April 2002	18 April 2002	1 July 2002	20 September 2006	€20.7m[29]
Morris Tribunal	concerning some Gardaí of the Donegal Division	Frederick Morris	28 March 2002	28 March 2002	24 April 2002	June 2004–September 2008 (8 volumes)	€70-72m[n 12][30]
Smithwick Tribunal	whether Irish officials colluded in the murder of two RUC officers on 20 March 1989[31]	Peter Smithwick	23 March 2005	24 March 2005	31 May 2005	3 December 2013	€12m[n 13][32]
Disclosures Tribunal[33]	Garda whistleblower scandal[34]	Peter Charleton	16 February 2017	16 February 2017	17 February 2017[35]	TBD	TBD

Notes

1. Where multiple members are listed, the first listed chaired the tribunal.
2. Date of resolution mandating establishment of Tribunal. External link is to the resolution debate.
3. Date of order by minister, or by Governor-General until 1936, establishing tribunal.
4. Date report was laid before the houses of the Oireachtas. External link is to the report: either an official webpage or a PDF scan from the Oireachtas library.
5. Estimated or actual cost, generally excluding legal costs of third parties where not paid by the state.
6. 1927 projection
7. No other report was issued.[14]
8. Seanad had been abolished
9. Total up to August 2011; made up of €42.706m to the Tribunal itself and €3.444m in Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources legal costs.[23]
10. First date is of original resolution; later dates are of resolutions amending its terms of reference.
11. September 2014 estimate.[26] A December 2014 Supreme Court decision may increase this by a further €36m,[27] though this is disputed.[28]
12. 2011 projection
13. 2013 projection

Other inquiries

Non-tribunal official inquiries, and subsequent reports, include:[36]

• 2005–2007: Commission of Investigation: Dublin and Monaghan Bombings 1974 (Sole Member: Patrick MacEntee)
• 2005: the Travers Report into overcharging of fees at some nursing homes. Between refundable fees and legal costs the Tribunal's findings would cost €500 million.[37][38]
• 2005: the Ferns Report on clerical sexual abuse in the Irish Catholic Diocese of Ferns, County Wexford
• 2008: the Baker–Tilly Report into procurement practices at Córas Iompair Éireann[39]
• 2000–2009 The Ryan Report (CICA) on child abuse at religiously run institutions
• 2006–2009: The Murphy Report on the Sexual abuse scandal in Dublin archdiocese

Bibliography

• MacCarthaigh, Muiris (2005). "6: Tribunals of inquiry and judicial accountability". Accountability in Irish Parliamentary Politics. Institute of Public Administration. pp. 187–237. ISBN 9781904541318. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
• "Tribunals of Inquiry". Citizens Information. Citizens Information Board. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
• Report on Public Inquiries including Tribunals of Inquiry (PDF). Law Reform Commission Reports. LRC 73-2005. Dublin: Law Reform Commission. 2005.
• "Special Report: Tribunals of Inquiry" (PDF). Comptroller and Auditor General. December 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
• Reports of particular tribunals of inquiry, listed in the "Report laid" column of the table above.
• Oireachtas debates

References

1. Citizens Information Board 2009
2. "Report on Public Inquiries Including Tribunals of Inquiry". Law Reform Commission. 30 May 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
3. "Commissions of Investigation Act 2004". Irish Statute Book. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
4. "Commissions of Investigation Bill 2003: Second Stage". Dáil Éireann debates. Oireachtas. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
5. "Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
6. "Another stinging attack on tribunal". Irish Examiner. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
7. Comptroller and Auditor General, 2008, p.24 §2.16, fig 2.3
8. "Tribunals of Inquiry". Government Legislation Programme. Department of the Taoiseach. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
9. Johnston, Roy (1999). "1926 Prices Tribunal". Retrieved 20 September 2014.
10. "Questions; Oral answers: Cost of tribunal on prices". Dáil Éireann debates. 3 November 1927. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
11. The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal. J. Falconer. 62: 42. 1928.
12. Doherty, Gabriel (Spring 1995). "'A Star Chamber affair': the death of Timothy Coughlan". History Ireland. 3 (1).
13. Dept. of agriculture and technical instruction (1929). Annual General Report of the Department. Dublin. p. 18.
14. Maltby, Arthur; McKenna, Brian (2 October 2013). Irish Official Publications: A Guide to Republic of Ireland Papers, with a Breviate of Reports 1922–1972. Elsevier. p. 182. ISBN 9781483188829. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
15. "Public Business. - Rent Restrictions Bill, 1944—Second Stage". Dáil Éireann debates. 10 October 1945. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
16. Pearse Street fire tribunal Report, p.5
17. Dwyer, T. Ryle (4 July 2009). "Tribunals end up as corporate welfare for overpaid lawyers". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
18. Milk Supply Tribunal, report p.2
19. Cross Channel Freight Rates Tribunal report, p.2
20. "Questions; Oral Answers: Departmental and semi-State Body Reports". Dáil Éireann debates. 17 February 1972. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
21. "Written Answers: Kerry Babies Tribunal". Dáil Éireann debates. 16 December 1986. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
22. Moloney, Eugene (28 November 2001). "£19m on and beef tribunal bills still pouring in". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
23. "Written Answers - Tribunals of Inquiry". Dáil Éireann debates. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
24. Comptroller and Auditor General, 2008, p.96 fig.A.3
25. "Amended terms of reference". Mahon Tribunal. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
26. O'Connell, Hugh (26 June 2014). "It turns out the Mahon Tribunal is going to cost less than was previously thought*". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
27. McConnell, Daniel (28 December 2014). "Tribunal fiasco: politicians and developers will be paid €100m". Irish Independent. Retrieved 17 January 2015. While the Government had expected to spend €64m on third-party legal costs, that figure could now top €100m, senior Government sources have conceded.
28. Collins, Stephen. "Mahon tribunal apologises to former FF minister Ray Burke". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 January 2015. In a statement on its website last week the chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Alan Mahon, said the estimate of €159 million for its total costs still stood, despite the outcome of the Redmond case.
29. "Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (Continued)". Committee of Public Accounts proceedings. Oireachtas. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
30. "Ministerial briefing" (PDF). Department of Justice and Law Reform. March 2011. p. 9. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
31. McGee, Harry (7 June 2011). "Smithwick tribunal to hear evidence from witnesses". Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
32. "Smithwick Tribunal: Garda counsel criticises PSNI". BBC Online. 22 June 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
33. Brennan, Cianan (25 February 2017). "The Charleton Tribunal has an official (different) name, and its opening statement is due next Monday". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
34. Bardon, Sarah; Clarke, Vivienne; O'Regan, Michael; O'Halloran, Marie (14 February 2017). "Kenny 'gave wrong information' about Zappone meeting". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
35. "Opening statement of Mr Justice Peter Charleton". Disclosures Tribunal. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017. By instrument under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, as amended, the Minister for Justice and Equality on the 17th day of February 2017 appointed this Tribunal, following resolutions of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann of the previous day.
36. Comptroller and Auditor General, 2008, p.95 fig.A.1
37. "RTÉ.ie". RTÉ.ie. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
38. "2005 Ministerial comment in the Dáil". Historical-debates.oireachtas.ie. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
39. "Baker-Tilly report". Scribd.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011.