The Cabinet has agreed to appoint two new full members and a reserve member to the Flood tribunal to assist in dealing with the massive workload now facing the inquiry.
The Government has had discussions with several people with a view to their joining the tribunal, which Mr Justice Flood estimates has at least two years' work in front of it.
The Government hopes to be able to name the new appointees on Friday, when it will ask the Dail to approve a motion making the additions.
It is expected that at least some of the appointees will not be judges, due to the difficulty in finding members of the judiciary willing to take on the task who have also never represented any of the parties in the tribunal during their careers as barristers.
The most likely alternative to a member of the judiciary is a senior counsel.
Last month Mr Justice Flood asked for two extra judges to assist him in handling his increasing workload. He also asked for an additional person to sit with the tribunal to hear evidence "with a view to that person being available to replace any member of the tribunal who, for any reason, is unable to continue to act as a member of the tribunal".