Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

In July the Minister for Finance issued a statement on behalf the Government that he planned to introduce public expenditure cuts of €440 million by the end of the year and reduce spending by a further €1 billion in 2009. It was hoped the Moriarty tribunal would have concluded its public hearings this year. It had its last public session in May. I believe there were only three public sittings this year, one in March and two in May. I understand the Government committed to review the operational costs of the tribunals of inquiry as part of the overall review of spending in order to minimise expenditure both in the remainder of 2008 and in 2009, which I support.

The Taoiseach will be aware that the €1 billion the Minister referred to as being saved in 2009 could be just about enough to cover the legal bills expected in the Moriarty and Mahon tribunals. As he is aware, both have been in existence since 1997 and have as yet to pay out the majority of their third-party legal costs. No one knows how large those legal bills will be and cutbacks will not prevent these payments having to be made.

What progress has been made since July arising from the Minister's comment? Mr. Justice Moriarty has made several comments that his report was expected to be published fairly soon and yet there is no evidence of it at all. Has the Government contacted the tribunal to establish whether it has completed all its public hearings given that only three took place this year? If so when can we expect the final Moriarty tribunal report to be published?

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