Lenihan insists law will not end sitting tribunals

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan insisted that legislation introduced yesterday cannot lead to the closing down of sitting tribunals.

"It is not my intention to apply this legislation to the tribunals within the envisaged timeframes that they have set themselves for their own completion. Not alone the Morris tribunal, but the Mahon tribunal, has communicated to the Government a definite timescale within which they will bring their proceedings to a conclusion."

Mr Lenihan revealed that by the end of last month completed and sitting tribunals and other public inquiries had cost the exchequer €316.6 million, with €228 million accounting for legal costs. The figure for legal costs included €110 million for third-party costs awarded to date.

Mr Lenihan, who was responding to Opposition demands that the Bill be deferred, said there was no intention to rush it through the House before Christmas, or indeed before next summer.

The legislation was being introduced on foot of a Law Reform Commission report and it was required because the public would expect the Dáil to ensure that any future tribunals, established by the House, could proceed in an expeditious, cost-effective and efficient manner, he added. An Opposition attempt to have the introduction of the Bill deferred was defeated by 72 votes to 60.

Mr Lenihan said the Bill would not prevent legal representatives from charging whatever they wished to or could agree with their clients. It would, however, give a clear indication of the likely maximum level of fees for which the State would be liable.

He added that in line with advice from the Attorney General, and in line with Law Reform Commission recommendations, the Government could suspend or dissolve a tribunal under the Bill. However, the responsible Minister must consult the tribunal.

Mr Lenihan said he intended amending the Bill to clarify the timeframe within which a tribunal must prepare its report upon dissolution.

Another amendment would clarify the hiring of public relations consultants by persons appearing before a tribunal.

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan accused the Government of using "sinister new legislation to intimidate the Mahon tribunal before the Taoiseach returns to the witness box in a few weeks".

He said the timing and tone of the Bill indicated that it was an attempt "to intimidate, to bully and to dictate" to the tribunals.

"This Bill is an underhand mechanism to allow new sanctions to be brought against certain journalists who are currently before the tribunal after obtaining leaked information."

Mr Flanagan said Fine Gael recognised that the costs of tribunals must be addressed. "But we are concerned that the Government is using the costs issue as a smokescreen to disguise its wish to shut down the Mahon tribunal before anything else unsavoury about the peculiar finances of Fianna Fáil and its leader is revealed."

He added: "The Government's idea of justice is that, where a newspaper editor comes into possession of tribunal evidence that may be damaging to a politician but is in the public interest, that editor could face up to five years' imprisonment in addition to a €300,000 fine.

"Contrast this with the treatment of a former leader of Fianna Fáil who brought the office of Taoiseach into major disrepute by taking millions from wealthy businessmen to fund a lavish lifestyle."

Labour justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte said that the cost and duration of tribunals had been "greatly exacerbated by the tactics, sometimes tantamount to obstruction, engaged in by parties to the planning tribunal in particular." It would have been reasonable to expected the Taoiseach to show good example, he added.

"But, instead, we learned that the Taoiseach's protestations about how anxious he was to get into the tribunal to tell his story was in sharp contradiction to the truth. It is not for this House, but for the tribunal, to decide whether or not Mr Ahern obstructed the tribunal, but he certainly engaged in obfuscation and delaying tactics."

Dr Martin Mansergh (FF, Tipperary South) said that Independent TD Michael Lowry had suffered "Chinese torture" because of a tribunal's length.