Opposition leaders have said they cannot remember being told at the time of his appointment that the chairman of the Moriarty tribunal had shares in Cement Roadstone Holdings (CRH).
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, the former leader of the Labour Party, Mr Dick Spring, and the former Democratic Left leader, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said yesterday they were not told Mr Justice Moriarty could not investigate the 1991 sale by the State of Glen Ding wood to CRH because of his shareholding. They were not told he had CRH shares worth £500,000.
On Wednesday Mr Justice Moriarty said he had asked the Attorney General, Mr David Byrne SC, to bring to the attention of the party leaders, including the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, his concerns in relation to his CRH shares and how they could "give rise to a perceived conflict of interest which would preclude my inquiring into certain matters".
Mr Justice Moriarty said it was only when he had been told by Mr Byrne that his appointment was acceptable on those terms that he accepted it.
A Government spokeswoman said Mr Byrne had mentioned the CRH shareholding to the opposition party leaders. He did not know the size of the shareholding. She said there would be no reason to mention the shareholding other than in consideration of the possibility of a conflict of interest.
The appointment of Mr Justice Moriarty occurred one week after the Dail debated the tribunal's terms of reference. A motion which would have directed the tribunal to investigate the Glen Ding wood sale was supported by Fine Gael, Labour, Democratic Left and the Green Party.
In rejecting the amendment the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, on behalf of the Taoiseach, said if the money trail led to further investigations relating to Glen Ding the tribunal had adequate powers within its terms of reference to follow that.
