The former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, may be ordered to pay not only his own costs but also part of those of other parties, including the tribunal itself, when the Dunnes payments-to-politicians tribunal sits on Tuesday. "It doesn't look very likely he will get his costs," said a legal source. "The question is will he have to bear some of the costs of others? That is the only significant question."
Mr Haughey was severely criticised by the chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Brian McCracken, in his report, for the way he responded to the tribunal's inquiries. The chairman said he was sending the relevant papers to the Director of Public Prosecutions, so a decision could be made on whether the former Taoiseach should face prosecution.
Mr Haughey may now be ordered to pay costs incurred by other parties insofar as those costs are the result of his attitude to the tribunal.
Because Mr Haughey denied the receipt of the £1.3 million from Mr Ben Dunne, the tribunal had to follow a money trail that involved the taking of evidence in London and a three-day application in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.
As part of this same exercise, two banks, the Irish Intercontinental Bank and Guinness & Mahon, Dublin, were the subjects of discovery orders under which senior personnel had to trawl through large amounts of documentation. The cost to the banks is likely to have been significant.
At Tuesday's hearing, submissions are likely to be made by counsel for the public interest, Mr Edward Comyn SC, in relation to the cost applications.
The hearing is expected to take only a few hours and is likely to be the last public hearing of the tribunal. However, a final decision has not yet been made on whether to persist with an appeal which has been lodged in the Cayman Islands.
The Moriarty (payments to Messrs Haughey and Lowry) tribunal will have its first public hearing on Friday to hear applications from parties seeking representation.
