Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

This tribunal has been going on for many years. According to the figures produced by the Taoiseach, it has cost almost €40 million. As he said, we are not yet in a position to know what the third party costs might be. Some of the legal people employed by the tribunal have cost in excess of €1,000 a day. Given the significant increase in costs because witnesses have had to be called as a result of two errors that were made arising from the work of the tribunal, does the Taoiseach believe that the sole chairman of the tribunal is now in a position to produce a credible and impartial report? What area of Exchequer funds will have to be diverted to pay for the additional costs that will arise from these mistakes? Given that no report has been produced so far, does the Taoiseach consider that the €40 million spent to date - we do not know the figure for third party costs - represents good value for money?

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