The Department of Finance is to be asked to calculate the cost to the State of witness and third-party expenses arising from tribunals and public inquiries that could now be running into "hundreds of millions of euros".
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Seán Fleming TD (FF) warned yesterday that when all the tribunals were over, there would be still be a "huge liability" to the State in relation to third-party expenses, on top of the €264 million that the tribunals and inquiries have already cost the Exchequer.
Mr Fleming said there was growing concern among fellow committee members that the Government accounts contained no estimates for contingent liability for tribunal and inquiry costs.
"I believe we need to get some handle on this. The figure needs to be ascertained, and this hasn't been done. There needs to be some effort to estimate what the exposure to the taxpayer will be."
Mr Fleming, who is also chairman of the Dáil's Finance and Public Service Committee, said nowhere in Government appropriation accounts were there estimates for contingent liability for costs. "An example of this was six or seven years after the beef tribunal where there were still witnesses' bills and nobody had a handle on the total amount. The same thing seems to be happening with the Mahon tribunal and other inquiries".
He said there was an onus on the Government to estimate third-party costs, which at the end of the day the taxpayer would have to pay. He said it should be possible to make some estimate of costs by finding out how many people have been awarded legal representation.
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, told the Dáil last month that, to date, a total of €264 million has been paid out by the Exchequer for the various tribunals and inquiries.
PAC chairman Michael Noonan TD confirmed to The Irish Times last night that the matter would be raised with the Department of Finance and other departments, including the Department of the Environment which runs the Mahon tribunal.
"This is a serious matter. There will be a huge gap in the accounts. There is a liability but no attempt has been made to estimate the final figure."