Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The reply that was given last week on this matter was in line with the correspondence I had received on 23 April from the sole member of the tribunal, when he stated in a letter to me of that date:

The Tribunal has always considered that Mr. Andersen would be a valuable witness. It is a matter of enormous regret to me that the prospect of his attendance should have arisen so belatedly in the Tribunal's proceedings. Although he has not yet signified to the Tribunal that he is agreeable to attending as a witness, the Tribunal is endeavouring to ascertain the position through correspondence with his solicitors.

This is the position as it was conveyed to me. I have also received correspondence, dated 10 May from the sole member of the tribunal, referring to his letter of 23 April in response to my letter, the previous day, in which the sole member indicated to me that because of the uncertainty surrounding the prospective attendance of Mr. Michael Andersen as a witness to the tribunal it was not possible for him to be definite about the impact which that development could have on the timescale for completion of his work. The sole member goes on to say in this letter, dated 10 May:

In the course of that letter, I informed you that Mr. Anderson had not yet signified to the Tribunal that he was, in fact, agreeable to attending as a witness, and that I was endeavouring to ascertain the position through correspondence with his solicitor.

In the light of an article published in today's editions of The Irish Times, which suggest that the information which I furnished to you in that regard was incorrect, I wish to state that the information which I provided to you on that occasion was not incorrect in any respect.

The sole member goes on to say:

You will appreciate that it would otherwise be wholly inappropriate for me to comment on the content on any media report, or on the content of confidential correspondence between my solicitor and that of any prospective witness.

He goes on to say:

I wish to confirm that the solicitor of the sole member is continuing in correspondence with Mr. Andersen's Danish solicitor, with a view to clarifying matters.

While not in a position to be categoric about the impact of this development on the conclusion of his work, he goes on to state that he wished to make it clear that the is determined the delay would be of as short a duration as possible, consistent with the discharge of his remit and the safeguarding of the constitutional rights of those persons affected by his inquiries. That having been said, the sole member goes on to say:

I do not anticipate that any such delay will protract my work beyond a short number of months.

That is the position of the sole member.

See this speech in context