Ms Oonagh McPhillips:

The Deputy is absolutely right. The tribunals are very expensive. That is why, as the Deputy may recall and the Chairman will recall, the Commissions of Investigation Act was brought forward in the mid-2000s. It provided for a mechanism for inquiring into similar matters but in private and at a much lower cost. If the Deputy looks at the list, the O'Higgins commission, for example, was a commission of investigation conducted in private. One does not need the same level of legal representation etc., so the costs are not nearly as high. As we have seen, however, there are some matters that need to be aired in public and the Government can decide to use the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act, which dates back to 1921. Obviously, people before a tribunal are entitled to legal representation and so forth.