Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

——and that they had made known to the then Minister, Deputy John O'Donoghue. It did not, however, make reference to the fax received by Deputy Higgins on 15 July 2000, which partly contradicted the information previously supplied. The reason is that no other Member of the Oireachtas, including, as far as I know, Deputy Howlin, was made aware of its existence by Deputy Higgins.

The net effect was that the Houses established a tribunal of inquiry that lasted six years at a cost to the taxpayer of some €50 million, which will probably increase, in the absence of this important information of direct relevance to the tribunal's terms of reference.

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