Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together.

The cost of the Moriarty tribunal to my Department in 2008 was €4.01 million. The total expenditure for my Department from the establishment of the tribunal in September 1997 to 31 December 2009 was €38.27 million. The sole member of the tribunal, Mr. Justice Moriarty, has not yet addressed third-party costs. Until that is done, we cannot estimate the overall cost of the tribunal with any accuracy. The tribunal secretariat has on many occasions over the years told my Department that any attempt by the tribunal to quantify third-party costs would lead to conclusions being drawn and suppositions being made which could infringe the rights of witnesses and impinge on the independence of the tribunal. The Comptroller and Auditor General's Special Report on Tribunals of Inquiry, in attempting to establish some estimate of the overall cost of the Moriarty tribunal, gave various ranges for third-party costs but stressed that the figures were subject to many caveats and contingencies.

From time to time there have been requests to my Department for files and information from various tribunals. The Department has co-operated fully with all such requests and will continue to do so in the future. Normally such requests are received by the Secretary General of my Department and assigned to the appropriate departmental officials by him. Appropriate replies subsequently issue when the requests have been considered and any relevant information or files identified.

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