Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the terms of reference. It is worth saying again that in the past week Maurice McCabe and Katie Hannon have done the State a great service because now we have before us far more robust terms of reference, and a tribunal of inquiry as opposed to a commission of investigation with limited terms of reference. I am very satisfied to see Keith Harrison being named in module one with regard to the connection with Tusla, and he will also be encompassed in the second module. The original claims by those whistleblowers also need to be investigated robustly.

I want to focus on what I have been doing for quite a number of years with regard to the Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005. It is wrong for us to proceed to establish a tribunal under the 1921 Act. We all know that legislation is flawed in the area of costs. The Law Reform Commission has produced a comprehensive report in this area. We have a Bill which deals with limiting the costs of tribunals of investigation which was approved by the Attorney General back in 2005 and which passed Second and Committee Stages. Elements of the Bill should not progress, but the core part of it on the reduction of costs of tribunals of inquiry must pass before we establish this inquiry. Do I want to stall in any way this tribunal of inquiry being established? No, I do not, but do we have an ability in this House and the Seanad to introduce that part of the 2005 Bill in the next week? Yes, we do. It would allow the sole member of the tribunal of inquiry to tell each witness the amount for which they would be covered for legal costs. No longer would we have witnesses coming in with five barristers and two junior counsels looking to recoup their costs from the State. It would be the judge who would decide what is appropriate for legal representation to be paid by the State. No longer would public relations consultants be allowed to be hired by witnesses and have their costs paid by the State. It would allow the Minister to set regulations to cap the amount paid for legal representation. We have the ability to do this. It is very simple. We have rushed through legislation in the past. The Taoiseach said to me earlier today he has requested a report on the issues I have raised. I ask the Minister, as we agree the terms of reference in the House, to consider bringing forward emergency legislation to deal with specific parts of the 2005 Bill and have them passed by the House. Sinn Féin will fully co-operate with the Minister, whether additional sittings, extra time or clearing schedules next week are necessary, to have it passed in this House and in the Seanad.

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