Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said an examination of the Moriarty tribunal by a team of detectives should be finished “sooner rather than later”.
The force chief revealed last week he had appointed a team of officers to assess the damning findings of the 14-year long inquiry.
Mr Callinan said: “Key to the work we are doing at the moment is the identification of criminal offences.”
The tribunal found former government minister Michael Lowry passed classified information on the competition for the state’s second mobile phone licence to telecoms tycoon Denis O’Brien and attempted a corrupt property deal to enrich ex-supermarket boss Ben Dunne.
The Garda Commissioner said if criminal offences are established, sufficient resources would be provided to carry out prosecutions.
But he insisted it was important not to “rush the gates” on the matter.
“I think it is a question of waiting and seeing, and I’m confident that will happen sooner rather than later,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t like to put a time frame on it.”
The Criminal Assets Bureau chief officer Eugene Corcoran, top fraud squad detectives, the Revenue Commissioners and Director of Public Prosecutions James Hamilton are all examining the tribunal findings for potential criminal charges.
PA