The Garda NBCI is headed by a Detective Chief Superintendent, who reports to the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Organised & Serious Crime.

[1] The bureau is headquartered at Water Scott House, Military Road, Dublin City, and operates throughout the country.

[3] The NBCI was established on 21 January 1997, centralising other investigative branches around the country, as a response to the proliferation of serious and organised crime.

[5] The NBCI is the main unit within the Gardaí that investigates internal Garda criminality and corruption.

[6][7][8] The NBCI works closely with other Garda units, and law enforcement agencies from other countries when there is an international dimension to investigations, such as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Metropolitan Police Service and National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom.