Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)

The Mahon tribunal is an ongoing inquiry and it is sub judice, as it is a quasi-judicial inquiry. I question whether it is appropriate for a debate in either House.

People have very short memories. I stated in 1991 on Pat Kenny's show that two events in my lifetime deserved a tribunal of inquiry, the Whiddy Island disaster where 50 lives were lost and the Stardust disaster. I said at the time that a better way must be found because inquiries such as the Mahon tribunal have become soap opera. In 2005 one senior counsel earned more money than all the Members of this House would earn in two years. This inquiry is a gravy train for lawyers. Another mechanism must be found for such matters because this is a joke and there is significant public apathy. One cannot equate the Mahon tribunal with disasters such as the Stardust or Whiddy Island. The tribunals which investigated those disasters were merited. I also said on the Pat Kenny programme that the beef tribunal inquiry would cost the taxpayer and the economy much more than it would ever achieve and I was proven right.

Last week I called for a debate on the fishing industry. I ask for a debate prior to Christmas, if possible, on the status of Irish agriculture. I ask that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food come to the House either before Christmas or else early in the new year, to discuss the state of Irish agriculture. It is an important industry which is rarely discussed in this House.