Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)

I am making the point with regard to costs, that the legal team for the Moriarty tribunal has taken control and because it has become both accuser and prosecutor, we have prolonged proceedings. Senior counsel for the tribunal are being paid an average of €2,350 per day. The figures and records we have received through the Freedom of Information Act show that senior counsel for the tribunal, mysteriously, work an average of six days a week. This equates to approximately €14,000 per week. Therefore, each senior counsel for the tribunal - at a time of economic crisis - is guaranteed a cheque in the post every month for a minimum of €55,000. Who in the Taoiseach's Department or in the Department of Finance signs off on this work? For example, does Mr. Justice Moriarty sign off on the bills that come through his tribunal? When these bills get to the Taoiseach's office, who is accountable for signing off on these funds to senior counsel on the tribunal? What has happened the promise by Government to reduce the level of costs incurred by the legal teams for tribunals?

I was in the House years ago when the then Minister, Charlie McCreevy, guaranteed the figures would be reduced and brought into line with what would be considered a norm. What is happening with regard to the costs of this tribunal is outrageous. At a time when costs are being reduced generally and impositions are being placed on people, particularly the vulnerable in society, I cannot understand how the issue of tribunal costs is not being tackled. There is an issue of accountability with regard to these costs. A rich gravy train runs daily on a continuous track between the Department of Finance, the Taoiseach's office and Dublin Castle. It is time somebody in the Department of the Taoiseach took control of the issue. The Taoiseach said the sole member of the tribunal said the report would be complete in a few months.

This tribunal will continue to accrue exorbitant costs and continue to be legally challenged for as long as tribunals insist on making findings to suit their theories, rather than basing a report on solid facts substantiated by evidence. That is the problem with this tribunal and the reason it has been running for so long. I have been speaking to legal practitioners in the community. As a result of my involvement with the tribunal I am regularly approached by senior legal practitioners who are seriously concerned that the tribunal system is bringing the legal profession into disrepute due to the existence of this bonanza or gravy train.

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