Decision deferred on Lawlor's legal bill

The former Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, has escaped a six-figure legal bill - for now - after Judge Alan Mahon decided to defer a decision on the politician's costs until the end of the tribunal's investigations.

The tribunal is anxious to make Mr Lawlor pay for the costs of hearings earlier this year into his failure to cooperate, which are estimated to exceed €100,000. The chairman originally indicated his intention to deal with the matter now.

However, his proposed course of action ran into opposition last week, not only from Mr Lawlor but also from the Department of Finance and the Attorney General, for whom lawyers said it would not be appropriate to impose costs until the tribunal had made its findings.

Yesterday, Judge Mahon admitted the legal issue at stake was "open to legal argument". The tribunal was not empowered to refer the matter to the High Court and, therefore, "a definitive interpretation" could only be decided by litigation.

However, the chairman said litigation was not "merited" at this time and so he decided it would be appropriate to defer determination of the matter until a future date. Mr Lawlor still faces a legal bill of over €500,000 in respect of earlier court proceedings.

Last night, the politician welcomed Judge Mahon's "belated" recognition that he was acting outside the legislation on costs when he originally tried to decide these before a full investigation.

Mr Lawlor said Judge Mahon had rejected his argument to this effect, which was later supported by the Department of Finance and the Attorney General.