Full judicial inquiry ordered into Dunnes Stores payments

THE new judicial inquiry into the payments made to politicians by Dunnes Stores is expected to be sitting within 10 days.

This follows the Government's decision last night to set up a full tribunal of inquiry into the alleged payments to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, their relatives or connected persons, and political parties over the past 10 years.

The inquiry, which will have the

power to compel attendance of witnesses and acquire documents, will be chaired by Mr Justice Brian McCracken, the recently appointed High Court judge. He was Mr Dick Spring's senior counsel at the beef tribunal.

Mr Ben Dunne, the former managing director of Dunnes Stores, Mr Michael Lowry, the former Minister, and the unnamed senior Fianna Fail figure who is alleged to have received £1.1 million in the early 1990s are expected to be the star witnesses bat the tribunal. Unlike the Dail inquiry into the events leading up to the fall of the last government, the inquiry's sittings will not be televised. This is because it has the status of a High Court hearing.

The Government will propose the motion establishing the tribunal in the Dail today. Its terms of reference will be finalised by the Coalition leaders this morning.

It is understood that draft terms of reference, to facilitate a tightly focused inquiry which should be completed before the general election, were put before the Cabinet, but sent back to the Attorney General's office for further consideration last night. The Attorney General, Mr Dermot Gleeson, is precluded from advising the Government on the matter because he represented Mr Ben Dunne in his legal proceedings with Dunnes Stores.

Under the terms of its Dail motion the Government will ask Mr Justice McCracken to make a progress report to the Dail after 10 days of oral hearings.

The Dail sub committee's investigation into Judge Gerard Buchanan's report on the Price, Waterhouse findings will begin, as planned, on Tuesday, but then suspend its deliberations.

The McCracken inquiry, under the Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Acts, 1921-79, is being charged with the task of investigating the alleged payments by Dunnes Stores between January 1st, 1986, and December 31st last.

Judge Buchanan will proceed, as planned, to extract a list of local politicians and public servants, their relatives and connected persons, from the Price Waterhouse findings. It is expected that his report will dovetail into a continuing tribunal inquiry into Dunnes Stores payments to such persons.

Since the payments to politicians controversy erupted with the report that Mr Ben Dunne had financed a £207,000 extension to Mr Lowry's Co Tipperary home, six members of the Oireachtas have made open declarations that they received money from Dunnes Stores.

The opposition parties were given copies of the terms of reference after midnight. Fianna Fail and the PDs are expected to meet before 9 a.m. this morning to consider the terms before agreeing to the tribunal being set up.