Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The inquiries are continuing in the Department and will be completed within the next few weeks with a view to establishing whether external inquiries are required. Under this Government, the cases concerned are being considered as a matter of urgency. One of last decisions made by my predecessor was to establish independent inquiries into six local authorities but he left office seven months later without having commenced any of them. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, will issue a public statement on the matter at the appropriate time and will include details of any further action considered necessary.

Deputy Boyd Barrett usually talks at length about innuendo and he challenges people's names in this House, which I find disgraceful. To make the wild allegation Deputy Boyd Barrett made about possible interference by me or anyone else in a contract or process is a new low in politics in this House. I challenge Deputy Boyd Barrett to speak on these matters outside the House rather than abusing privilege in this House.

The cost of the tribunal over its 15 years to date - some €110 million - and the future costs in dealing with claims for third-party costs have been the subject of considerable and understandable concern. A number of measures have been taken to reduce the cost of the tribunal, including reducing fees paid in respect of professional services, including legal services, by the tribunal and scaling back the tribunal's legal and administrative staff following the completion of public hearings. Not enough was done at the time to reduce costs. The tribunal has produced its final report and I expect its operating costs, as well as its requirements for legal representation, should be further significantly reduced and put under scrutiny.

That said, substantial third-party costs, covering the period 2003-08, will be ruled upon by the tribunal's presiding judge in the coming months. Estimates of the potential additional costs involved range from the Comptroller and Auditor General's 2008 estimate of between €84 million and €104 million or the tribunal's estimate of between €117 million and €147 million. Without intruding into matters that are correctly the preserve of the tribunal itself, the Government will take all steps it can to ensure the future costs to the taxpayer are minimised. In this context, I will shortly write to the tribunal's presiding judge, Mr. Justice Mahon, seeking an indication of the likely timing for processing any remaining third-party cost applications and, taking account of the pressures on the public finances generally, to contribute to the process of considering how the tribunal's administrative costs can be reduced during this final phase of its work.

I also welcome the decision by this Government to establish a dedicated unit to deal with third-party costs arising from both the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals. The unit will be located in the State Claims Agency, which under the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act already manages personal injury and property damage claims against the State. Through its legal costs accounting expertise, it should help to minimise the levels of third-party costs remunerated.

However, it should be remembered that the tribunal's work has not entirely been without monetary benefit to the State. For example, the Revenue Commissioners have recovered almost €33 million attributable to the work of the tribunal in tax settlements with certain developers. In addition, there are ongoing, previously initiated investigations involving the Criminal Assets Bureau about which I will not comment further at this stage. I am hopeful that further examination of the final report by those bodies may yield further revenue to the State, to offset at least partially the administrative and legal costs associated with this expensive tribunal.

In conclusion, for everyone in this House and all others who have an interest in the openness and transparency of our democratic process, the final report of the Mahon tribunal makes findings and recommendations of the most profound kind. I hope Members will take the opportunity of the debate in the House over the next few days to record their appreciation of the work of the tribunal. With all that has been invested in the tribunal to date, it is crucial the report is considered carefully and acted on speedily and comprehensively. Having already referred the report to other organs of the State last week, they must be left independently to do their work on following up on what has happened in the past. We cannot change history but we can try to ensure that history does not repeat itself. To that end, the Government has embarked on an urgent and active consideration of the tribunal's recommendations so we take the necessary steps to ensure that what has been set out in the tribunal report can never happen again and to work towards restoring public confidence in our political system, which is essential to the health of our democracy.

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