Moriarty tribunal costs nearing €20 million

The Moriarty tribunal has cost the taxpayer more than €19.6 million since it was established in 1997, the Dáil was told today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said in response to a question from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny that total legal costs in the past eight years were now over €14.6 million. The remaining €5 million is made up of clerical and administrative costs.

The overall cost of the tribunal for this year would be over €10.5 million, Mr Ahern added.

Mr Kenny said the fact that no interim report had been produced by the tribunal was beyond belief. The Flood and Mahon tribunal have produced four interim reports, he noted. The Moriarty tribunal also has, in its terms of reference, the remit to publish interim reports. It has, so far, failed to do so.

The tribunal was established in September 1997 following the report of the McCracken Tribunal. It is investigating payments to former taoiseach Charles Haughey and former Fine Gael minister for transport, energy and communications Michael Lowry.

Denis O'Brien: challenged Moriarty Tribunal in High Court

The tribunal last sat in public to hear evidence on March 2nd, 2004, before sitting in private session for six months. When it sat again on September 15th, 2004, the tribunal said it was going to hear evidence it had gathered in relation to Doncaster Rovers Football Club Ltd, a company bought by Denis O'Brien in 1998.

The tribunal wants to investigate whether Mr Lowry was connected with this deal.

Mr O'Brien went to the High Court to challenge the tribunal's decision to hold public hearings into the matter, the High Court ruled against him, and a Supreme Court challenge to that finding is ongoing.

Hearings into the awarding of a mobile phone licence to Mr O'Brien's company Esat have also halted. The tribunal has given no explanation as to why its inquiry into this issue has been put on hold.