Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the support of Senator Quinn yesterday and Senator O'Toole today and the comments made in the Lower House about the tribunal, an issue on which I seek a debate. Members have an obligation to download judgments from the Supreme Court website, in particular, Mr. Justice Hardiman's judgment which states the proceedings of the appellants - the Murphy family - are directed exclusively on the costs order. As will be seen, certain of the points urged by the appellants would, if upheld, appear to have implications for the substantive findings of the tribunal, in terms of its power to grant or refuse costs, and that the current proceedings focus exclusively on the cost issues. Clearly, other implications have been flagged in this regard. Earlier in the judgment Mr. Justice Hardiman states: "These tribunals, as this one amply illustrates, have become immense in their duration and, consequently, in their costs ... I am unaware of any international comparator, even amongst States much richer than Ireland, whose public inquiries approach ours for length, complexity or expense, or who exhibit such readiness to have recourse to a tribunal."

In the Lower House the leaders of the two main parties and Deputy Lowry outlined their positions. I am alarmed by information received under the Freedom of Information Act which Deputy Lowry gave in the Lower House that the cost-----