Mahon tribunal will not run to 2030 - Ahern

New arrangements being introduced by the Government for the Mahon tribunal will prevent it lasting until 2030.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, told the Dáil discussions over the past three months were aimed at creating new arrangements for all the tribunals. A number were due to conclude next year or in 2006, and the Mahon tribunal was expected to be the last to finish.

"I do not want to be flippant, but from what I now know, and the amount of cases and modules there could have been, the conclusion date was more likely to be 2030."

He was responding to the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, who asked the "likely timespan of the eight tribunals which continue to sit and do business in the normal way".

Mr Ahern said the conclusion date would brought forward to Easter 2007, "with the report to be written".

He also said "it appears as if that is the best we can achieve" for the tribunal which investigates planning corruption allegations. Established in 1997, it has cost €33.78 million to date.

Earlier Mr Ahern defended tax reliefs costing the State more than €8 billion. He said the Government kept tax shelters and allowances under review, and it was wrong to say tax reliefs all related to the rich.

Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil, accused the Government of giving away billions to the very wealthy. It was crazy "that millions of euro in public money are being wasted in tax breaks to subsidise private health clinics for private profit, while patients in public hospitals lie on trolleys for days at a time".

However, Mr Ahern said the €8 billion in reliefs included exemptions from income tax for child benefit, capital allowances, employer-employee pension costs relief, special savings incentive accounts and mortgage interest relief.

He said to Mr Ó Caoláin: "If you want to be minister for finance, you would be better protected than me so you could announce those changes. I will certainly not announce or stand over them."

Speaking about the top 1.5 per cent of earners, he said: "I have no difficulty talking about the rich, but they do pay 26 per cent of the tax bill, so we should at least note that."