Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach reminded us that the tribunal was established by the Oireachtas and that therefore how it is addressed is a matter for the Oireachtas. The Taoiseach will recall that when the tribunal was established in September 1997 its terms of reference included a paragraph which stated that it is the desire of the House that the inquiry be completed in as economical a manner as possible and at the earliest date consistent with a fair examination of the matters referred to it. It is probably fair to say that nobody anticipated in 1997 that 13 years later the tribunal would be still going on, that there would be no final report and no clear indication as to when a final report might be presented.

The Taoiseach referred to the possibility that the House might wish to consider a substantive motion on the issue. Would he consider it a good idea for there to be an agreed motion in the House directing the Clerk of the Dáil to write to the sole member to request from him a progress report on the tribunal and a clear indication as to when a final report might be presented to the House?

I wish to ask about the appearance of Mr. Andersen at the tribunal. Last week The Irish Times carried a report, which was apparently based on a reply prepared by the Taoiseach for delivery in the Dáil if the question had been reached here. It stated that the Taoiseach had written to the sole member to inquire about a timescale for the completion of the tribunal's report. In his reply the sole member had stated that Mr. Andersen had not yet signalled to the tribunal that he was agreeable to attend as a witness, and that it was trying to ascertain the position.

That reply and the reportage of it prompted the solicitors for Mr. Andersen to state that, in fact, he had replied to the tribunal indicating that he was prepared to attend as a witness and that there was not any doubt about his attendance. Will the Taoiseach please clarify the position? I presume that the report of what the Taoiseach had intended to say was based on the correspondence from the sole member. How did it arise that the Taoiseach believed last week there was some doubt about Mr. Andersen's availability to attend as a witness when his solicitors state that, in fact, he had agreed to attend?

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