Over a year ago, Garda Assistant Commissioner Mr Kevin Carty was appointed to investigate allegations of corrupt practices by gardai in Co Donegal. The team's final report had been expected in April - it is now expected to come within the next two weeks.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, in a recent Dail reply, explained that new issues arose over the course of the investigation, delaying its completion.
He would not comment on any of the possible recommendations of the report, copies of which will be sent to the Garda Commissioner, the DPP and the Minister for Justice.
It will contain evidence of a controversial and complex web of incidents alleged to have occurred over recent years that have left Letterkenny Garda Station ridden with mistrust.
The death of cattle dealer Mr Richard Barron in the village of Raphoe in October 1996 is central to the current controversy. He died while walking home after a night's drinking. He sustained head injuries in what was at first presumed to be a hit-and-run accident.
However, a murder inquiry was later opened despite the fact that the scene had not been preserved and neighbours had swept blood and evidence from the road.
It is understood the garda on duty was in another village and did not arrive at the scene for 45 minutes.
Local publican Mr Frank McBrearty, his son, Mr Frank McBrearty jnr, nephew, Mr Mark McConnell, along with other family members and staff employed at the Parting Glass pub were all questioned about the death.
No charges were brought in the case but claims persist that detectives conducting the initial investigation into the killing forged a statement of admission in the name of Mr McBrearty jnr.
After the arrests the family claim they were subject to months of Garda intimidation and over a seven-month period amassed the bulk of the licensing, public order and traffic summonses.
The second thread of the investigation centres on claims that explosives were stolen from Garda care and re-hidden in caches, one over the Border, to suggest certain officers had located the material through their own intelligence work. This pattern of events was said to have dated back to the early 1990s.
The estranged wife of one of the officers involved highlighted this when she complained to another garda about a "veiled threat" made to her by a female associate of her husband's, who was also involved with the caches.
"I believed she was an IRA informer and I was told what they were doing was saving lives and it was all above board," she said.
The woman, who has recently met the Assistant Commissioner's investigative team, yesterday insisted that she had never witnessed her husband, a Garda superintendent, also alleged to be involved, and the female divide up the explosives. However, she confirmed she saw explosive material stored in their garden shed.
Other issues appear interwoven with the central allegations, including the possible existence of wrongful convictions or miscarriages of justice in Donegal, assaults and intimidation of civilians by officers and the use of Garda informers who allegedly made false allegations.
Sources have also claimed that documentation relevant to the inquiry has gone missing because it was "less than wholesome".
Mr Pauge Dorrians, solicitor to two gardai who have had allegations made linking them to the intimidation of the McBreartys, has called for a judicial inquiry into the entire controversy.
"I think the State is in complete turmoil and doesn't know which way to turn," he said.
He claims his clients, one of whom was involved in a second investigation into the Barron killing and has been transferred to Dublin, are being "scapegoated".
Sligo-based solicitor Mr Damien Tansey is thought to be representing at least one other garda who is intent on bringing a High Court application against the State alleging harassment and intimidation.
Mr Tansey would only confirm yesterday that he had a professional interest in the Donegal controversy and would be instigating proceedings.