Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I understand from the tribunal that it will not be able to give a timescale for completion of its report until after the witnesses have been heard and their evidence assessed. I have no intention of commenting in any way on the work of the tribunal. As for questions on the cost and duration of the tribunal, tribunals undoubtedly are an expensive way of carrying out investigations. This is the reason the Government has introduced the Tribunals of Inquiry Bill that is before the House at present. As for the length of time the tribunal has taken, I should point out it has published the first part of its report. Moreover, I believe the tribunal itself would point out that it has been the subject to legal challenge, which also has taken time. It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the final overall costs until third party costs have been assessed. As I stated, the cost of the tribunal to this Department to the end of 2009 was €38.27 million and the Comptroller and Auditor General's report indicated that the cost to other State bodies up to the end of 2007 was €10.9 million.

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