Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

If the Moriarty tribunal continues into the coming year, it will be entering its 14th year in session. Given the long period for which it has sat and the exorbitant fees that have been paid to legal representatives, which has sadly been accommodated by the Government's failure to implement the signalled reduction in fees which were announced by the Taoiseach's predecessor in the Dáil, and given the absence of any report, does the Taoiseach not believe this has led to a serious undermining of public confidence not only in this tribunal but in the tribunal process itself? Does the Taoiseach not believe it is time for the Houses of the Oireachtas to take the matter in hand and try to restore some credibility to the Moriarty tribunal and to the tribunal process? Would he consider asking the Houses of the Oireachtas, which initiated the tribunal, to set a date for a final report or would he consider insisting on an interim report or a report based on particular modules of the tribunal process over the years? Surely it is time to seriously consider making an intervention to try and rescue some credibility from this long and very unsatisfactory process.

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