Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I have three questions arising from the Taoiseach's responses. With regard to the file on the Battle of the Boyne site, I do not understand how the Taoiseach is prohibited from telling the House whether it has been requested by the tribunal by virtue of confidentiality of correspondence between the tribunal and the Department of the Taoiseach. We are not asking what was in the file or what was supplied to the tribunal. We simply want an answer regarding whether the file was sought by the tribunal.

The Taoiseach referred to the Tribunals of Inquiries Bill 2005, Second Stage of which began in this House in November 2007, although we have not seen it since then. Is the Government still proceeding with that Bill and where is it? Is it being withheld?

With regard to the costs of the tribunals, the then Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, announced in 2004 a new scale of fees which was supposed to come into effect in September 2006. That scale of fees was confirmed in February 2006 but was subsequently withdrawn by the Government in July 2006. A new deadline of March 2007 was set for the implementation of new fees. None of these have been met. Why has the Government not implemented the revised scale of fees for lawyers at the tribunal, which was set and announced four years ago, in 2004?

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