Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The idea that the tribunal was to be completed in a short number of months has arisen before. When the Taoiseach was answering questions in the House about the tribunal in October 2008, he said he expected the final report to be completed by the end of that year. On 4 November last, again when answering questions, the Taoiseach told us it was the intention of the sole member that the report would be ready for publication in early January, a reply that was subsequently described by a source with knowledge of the tribunal's affairs as being totally unrealistic. I have no doubt the Taoiseach gave those replies based on what he had been informed by the tribunal, but we have been told numerous times that the end is nigh for the tribunal report, and this has turned out not to be the case. Now we have the same response with regard to the appearance of Mr. Anderson.

I note there is an exchange of correspondence between the sole member and the Taoiseach, and I have no difficulty with that. However, given that the tribunal is a creature of the Oireachtas rather than of the Government, does the Taoiseach not think the correspondence, from which he has quoted extensively, should be communicated to the House? Does he intend to make it available or lay it before the House?

I will return to my first question, which is based on the shared concern at the length of time the tribunal has taken. We know the costs that have been incurred by the tribunal itself, but we have no idea, other than the estimates of the Comptroller and Auditor General, of what the third party costs might be. Given the original mandate of the tribunal, which was to conduct the inquiry and produce a report as quickly and economically as possible, and the fact that 13 years have now passed, how would the Taoiseach feel about the idea of an agreed motion in the House directing the Clerk of the Dáil to communicate with the sole member, asking him to return a progress report? The House established this tribunal and we have a responsibility, as the Taoiseach has said, to know where it is going. Perhaps the time has come for the House, rather than the Taoiseach, to communicate with the sole member and ask for a progress report and an indication of when the tribunal will come to an end and when we will see a final report.

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