The chairman of the Moriarty tribunal is canvassing leaders of the political parties for their views on him investigating matters to do with CRH, Cement Roadstone Holdings.
Mr Justice Moriarty has asked the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell, to ask the party leaders for their views on him making a new statement on the matter. Earlier this year, the chairman said because he had a substantial shareholding in CRH at the time of his appointment in 1997, he felt he could not inquire into matters concerning the company. This was still the case even though he had since sold his shareholding.
He said that, at the time of his appointment, he had asked the then Attorney General, Mr David Byrne, to inform the party leaders of this view and had been told that they accepted his appointment.
There has been controversy about the circumstances surrounding the sale of Glen Ding Wood by the State to CRH at a time when the late Desmond Traynor, personal financial adviser to Mr Charles Haughey, was chairman of the company.
More recently, it has been disclosed that in 1989 more than half the board of CRH had links with the Ansbacher deposits. The High Court was told last month that Ansbacher (Cayman) a Cayman Islands bank, ran what was an unauthorised bank from the offices of CRH for a number of years. Mr Traynor was chairman of CRH during this period.
It is known that the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, feels there is no conflict in Mr Justice Moriarty inquiring into CRH. The Labour Party is understood to be of the same view.
The Moriarty tribunal is inquiring into the finances of Mr Haughey and Mr Michael Lowry. It is also inquiring into any payments from the Ansbacher deposits to Mr Haughey or any other holder of public office.
While the tribunal is not inquiring into the Ansbacher deposits, it has been asked to make recommendations in relation to the use of offshore accounts and their impact on the tax base.
Mr Justice Moriarty may want to inquire into whether there were any dealings involving CRH which resulted in financial gain for Mr Haughey. There is no evidence of any link between Mr Haughey and the sale of Glen Ding Wood. However, there has been repeated criticism of the methods used by the State during the sale of the wood.
CRH has repeatedly denied that there was anything improper about the sale.