The Dail has agreed to grant powers of compellability to the Oireachtas sub-committee which will soon begin hearings into the Abbeylara siege.
The powers, which enable it to order witnesses to testify, are the same as those awarded to the Public Accounts Committee which carried out the DIRT inquiry.
The hearings are set to start on April 24 and will take place at Kildare House over a three-week period.