The Mahon tribunal has formally asked TDs or Senators who have any information about the source of the leak to The Irish Times about the payments made to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to contact it immediately.
Judge Mahon sent a letter by courier to the Clerk of the Dáil, Kieran Coughlan, on Tuesday, asking him to inform all members of the Oireachtas that they should contact the tribunal with any information about the leak.
The letter read:
"Dear Mr Coughlan,
"On 21st September, 2006, I commenced an inquiry into the unauthorised disclosure of confidential tribunal material. This followed upon the publication of an article in The Irish Times, headed 'Tribunal examines payments to Taoiseach', published on the same day.
"The subject matter of this article, and the manner in which the information upon which it was based came into the public domain, have been the subject of questions and statements in the Dáil.
"Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas have speculated in the House and elsewhere as to the possible sources of the disclosure of the material which led to the publication of the article. On occasion, the matter has been described as a 'leak from the tribunal'. Any suggestion that the unauthorised disclosure of material emanated from the tribunal itself is one which has serious implications for the tribunal and its capacity to carry out its mandate. Accordingly, I would be grateful if you would convey to all members of the Oireachtas my request that any member who has information which may identify, or lead to the identification of, the person or persons responsible for breaching the confidentiality of the tribunal should supply such information to me forthwith.
"Yours sincerely,
"His Hon Judge Alan P. Mahon SC."
In the Dáil last week, the Taoiseach appeared to be irritated with the tribunal itself.
"It is clear that the file and all the information I gave to the tribunal is in the hands of at least one newspaper. They obtained all the information," he said.
Later, during questions about why he had not disclosed information about the house he had purchased from Michael Wall in 1997, Mr Ahern said: "What I am up against is that on the one side I am told not to give all the information that I dealt with in the tribunal and on the other side all the information I gave to the tribunal is in the public domain in the hands of some people. That is the difficulty and it is a dilemma.
"If I came in here last week raising the issue about how I got my house, every bit of paper might have been sought. If the Committee of Public Accounts or the Comptroller and Auditor General wanted to examine my house, to be frank, I would be far happier if that was where it was being examined than where it is being examined, but that is another day's work."
Mr Ahern concluded by saying: "If the House wanted to see my files or files I have given to the tribunal, I would be as happy giving them to the House as anywhere else. I hope that answers the questions. It will not stop issues being raised. I have no doubt this evening other people will feed a few more things out. That is the problem and I do not have a resolution for it."
