The chairman of the Moriarty tribunal has said he might issue two separate reports arising from his long-running inquiries into matters affecting the former communications minister Michael Lowry.
He said an early report on "money trail" issues may be be followed later by his findings on the issuing by Mr Lowry's former department of the State's second mobile phone licence in 1996.
Mr Justice Moriarty said the idea of two reports had "much to recommend it" in a letter he sent yesterday to the Clerk of the Dail, Kieran Coughlan.
He said his work on the "money trail" issues had been 90 per cent completed, and his work on the licence issue 80 per cent completed, up to late April of this year.
In April it emerged that a Danish consultant who played a key role in the selection of Denis O'Brien's Esat Digifone as the recipient of the licence, might now be available to give evidence.
This has meant he could not issue a completed single report "in the very near future," the judge said in his letter.
Mr Justice Moriarty issued confidential provisional findings to interested parties in November 2008. Last week he amended some of his provisional findings in relation to the licence issue, and signalled that further changes are being considered.
The High Court judge said in his letter that he would not deviate from his initial intention of publishing a single report on matters affecting Mr Lowry, until he had considered the views of affected parties.
He did not ask that the members of the Oireachtas express any view on what he should do.
Mr O'Brien, in a statement today, objected to the idea of two reports. "This latest idea of a split report by the tribunal is designed solely to deflect attention away from the complete lack of evidence of any wrongdoing in the second mobile phone licence process," he said.
He called on the judge to hear the remaining evidence, publish a complete final report, "be done with it."