The Irish government of the day "failed to show the concern expected of it" in relation to the 1974 Dublin-Monaghan bombings, according to the Barron report.
"The Government of the day showed little interest in the bombings," the report claimed.
"When information was give to them suggesting that the British authorities had intelligence naming the bombers, this was not followed up. Any follow-up was limited to complaints by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that those involved had been released from internment," it said.
The chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Mr Sean Ardagh, indicated this evening that the former taoiseach, Mr Liam Cosgrave, would be "invited" to make a submission to the committee during its hearings early in the New Year.
However, he said the committee would have "no compellability powers".
On the Garda investigation, the Barron report says it examined the allegations that the Garda investigation was wound down as a result of political interference, the Barron report says "no evidence" was found to support that proposition.
However, it does conclude that the Garda investigation "failed to make full use of the information it obtained". "Certain lines of inquiry that could have been made pursued further in this jurisdiction were not pursued. There were other matters, including the questioning of suspects, in which the assistance of the RUC should have been requested, but was not."
There was evidence, according to the report, that the informal exchange of information between gardai on the border and their RUC counterparts was "extensive". "There is some evidence to suggest that some Garda officers, unwittingly or otherwise, may have been giving information to members of the British Army or Intelligence Services.
"The inquiry has found no evidence to support the proposition that such exchanges in some way facilitated the passage of the Dublin and Monaghan bombers across the border. Similarly, no basis has been found for concluding that the Garda investigation was in any way inhibited because of a fear of exposing such links."
The report continues: "Although the investigation teams had in their opinion no evidence upon which to found a prosecution, there is no evidence that they sought the advice of the Attorney General, in whose name criminal prosecutions were at that time still being brought. Had the Attorney General reviewed the file, it is likely that advices would have been given as to what further direction the investigation might take."
Mr Justice Barron says the State was not equipped to conduct an adequate forensic analysis of the explosions.
"This was because the importance of preservation, prompt collection and analysis was not appreciated. The effect of this was that potentially vital clues were lost. For instance, if it could have been definitively established that the Dublin bombs were made purely from commercial explosives, that would not have been typical of a loyalist paramilitary bomb."
The report notes the fact that intelligence information received by the Garda was, as a matter of routine, copied to the secretary of the Department of Justice. However, there is no no record of the information in the department or in the security files of the Garda and it can no longer be ascertained what information passed between them.
It says there is "no documentary evidence to suggest that An Garda Siochana sought or was given political assistance or direction". "The evidence received by the inquiry on this issue has stressed that assistance was neither sought nor given."