Commission of investigation (Ireland)


In the Republic of Ireland, a commission of investigation is a statutory commission established under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 to investigate a matter of "urgent public concern". A commission of investigation is a less expensive but less powerful alternative to a tribunal of inquiry. Commissions of investigation may take evidence in private, whereas tribunals of inquiry are held in public. In 2017, the Fine Gael-led government planned to have Peter Charleton chair a commission into the Garda whistleblower scandal; opposition demands led it to change this to a tribunal.
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse had been established in 2000 by a specific Act of the Oireachtas, with further acts passed subsequently to amend its operation. The Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 was intended to provide a template so that further commissions could be established more simply, by statutory instrument after a resolution by the houses of the Oireachtas.
Statutory instrumentCommissionTopic of investigationReport
Dublin and Monaghan bombings
False confession by Dean Lyons to the 1997 Grangegorman killings
and Child Sexual AbuseSexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin
Leas Cross Nursing HomeLeas Cross scandal
Death of Gary Douch in Mountjoy Prison
and Banking SectorIrish banking crisis: Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society
Fennelly CommissionGarda phone recordings scandal; Martin Callinan retirement; Garda investigation of death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier
MacLochlainn CommissionFatal shooting by Garda of Real IRA member Ronan MacLochlainn in 1998. Chaired by Mary Rose Gearty.
Bailieboro Garda DistrictMisconduct allegations contained in the Guerin Report
Mother and Baby Homes CommissionMagdalene laundries and similar institutions for unmarried mothers between 1922 and 1998.Three reports due by January 2020. Interim reports submitted.
IBRC CommissionCertain matters concerning transactions entered into by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.Not yet submitted
Abuses at a foster home in the South-East.Not yet submitted