The terms of reference for an "immediate" inquiry into the Arts Council's decision to spend €7 million on an unsuccessful IT project are set to go to cabinet on Tuesday.
Fine Gael TD and Minister for Arts, Patrick O'Donovan, confirmed the move to RTÉ News, saying he remains "very angry" at the overspend, and that the investigation will be "robust".
Minister O'Donovan said the terms of reference will outline the length of the inquiry, as well as include names of individuals who "are well versed in the area of corporate governance, particularly in public bodies" who will take part in it.
He said: "I'm really unhappy and very angry over what has happened with regard to the expenditure of public monies by that agency [Arts Council] and the manner in which it was spent, and the duration of time it took to be brought to the relevant person - myself.
"I will have terms of reference to go to government on Tuesday.
"I'll be able to speak more about it when we publish the terms of reference, but we've done a lot of work since I took this to the cabinet ten days ago, and I'm hoping to bring those terms of reference, with the names of an inquiry team and the likely length of time this will take, to Government on Tuesday."
He added: "We have what we believe now are robust set of terms of reference to go to Government, and I will be asking my colleagues on Tuesday to sign off on that, which will allow then my department to initiate the investigation immediately."
Earlier this month, it emerged the Arts Council had spent €7m on an unsuccessful IT system.
The Government last week ordered an external review of governance and culture into the organisation, after the overspend was uncovered by State financial watchdog - the Comptroller and Auditor General.
