Mr Charles Haughey should not be forced to give evidence any longer to the Moriarty tribunal because of the high levels of mental and physical stress involved, the constant ongoing pressure and the life-threatening nature of his situation.
That was the plea submitted to the tribunal last October by the former Taoiseach's counsel, Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, based on the medical advice of consultant urologist Mr Peter McLean.
Mr Haughey was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years prior to this, in October 1995, and the deterioration in his condition had been "particularly marked over the past six months", according to a medical report later handed to the tribunal. He "should not be subjected to this process any further, either in public or in private", the chairman, Mr Justice Moriarty was told.
Mr McLean had considered "other regimes" that might allow him to continue to give evidence to the tribunal, counsel said, but concluded that "there is no regime that he is prepared to recommend having regard to the deteriorating and continuing deterioration of Mr Haughey's health". In coming to this decision the urologist had consulted Mr Haughey's family doctor, consultants at the Mater Private in Dublin and senior medical opinion at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
But on December 7th the views of two senior London consultants, Mr Gordon Williams, a urologist, and Prof Martin Rossor, a neurologist - engaged by the tribunal to examine Mr Haughey - were disclosed by Mr Justice Moriarty. The tribunal chairman explained that he had resorted to independent medical opinion because the documentation he needed to evaluate Mr McLean's report "was not made available to the tribunal - and in those circumstances it became clear that I could not rely exclusively on the medical reports furnished to the solicitors by Mr Haughey's solicitors". Mr Williams, a consultant at the Hammersmith Hospital who examined Mr Haughey's cancer of the prostate gland, had developed concerns about the former Taoiseach's condition and recommended he be seen by a neurologist. Prof Rossor, a consultant at St Mary's Hospital, London, specialising in conditions affecting the memory including Alzheimer's disease, found that Mr Haughey was cognitively impaired but said there was no reason why he should not continue to attend the tribunal if he so wished.
The London doctors concluded that the former Taoiseach was "in medical terms, fit to give evidence, but that in the circumstances of his health status, special arrangements should be made to mitigate the disabilities from which he suffers". They recommended he should not give evidence for more than one hour a day and that it should be taken in private.
Because of the London experts' testimony the chairman decided to make an order under Section 1 (1) (c) of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act, 1921 which provided that evidence would be taken on commission. It meant Mr Haughey would be examined on oath in a private room in Dublin Castle and the transcripts of this evidence would be made public later. Mr Justice Moriarty, rejecting submissions from the former Taoiseach's legal team that Mr McLean's medical advice should be heeded, said time was "by no means an unimportant consideration".
Close associates of the former Taoiseach claimed he was confident the two London doctors would recommend he should no longer have to give evidence before the tribunal. He was reported to have been shocked to learn he would still have to give evidence, albeit in private.