The inquiry into the sale of SiteServ won't now issue its first report on the matter until the end of NEXT YEAR.

The delay is a result of the revised terms of reference and extra powers to be given to the inquiry in the coming weeks.

TDs have today passed legislation to give the Cregan Commission of Investigation more power to compel documents, and to override legal privilege in certain cases.

Those powers will go to the Seanad for approval next week - while the government will also amend the Terms of Reference so that the inquiry becomes 'modular' with the sale of SiteServ the first issue to be examined.

But it's understood that the sheer volume of documents that the inquiry can now consider, will dramatically push back the date for its report.

The Commission's current deadline is the end of October - but it's understood Justice Brian Cregan believes it would be the end of 2017 before he's in a position to issue any report on the SiteServ matter.

That will mean the first report on the issue will not be released until two-and-a-half years after the inquiry was first set up.

Further investigations, into other transactions and broader issues like the methods used by IBRC to set interest rates for its customers, will take even longer.