TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has been told by the chairman of the Moriarty tribunal that it is not possible to give a timescale for completion of the tribunal’s work. The tribunal was established in 1997.
Mr Cowen wrote to Mr Justice Michael Moriarty seeking guidance about when the tribunal will finish but was told in response that uncertainty about whether the Danish consultant Michael Andersen was willing to give evidence made it impossible to give a timescale.
The latest information about the tribunal was provided by the Taoiseach in response to Dáil questions from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore and Tipperary North TD, Michael Lowry.
The Taoiseach told them he understood that the tribunal had not yet made a decision on whether to hold further public hearings.
“I recently wrote to the sole member of the tribunal , to inquire about the timescale for completion of the tribunal’s report. He replied to the effect that the tribunal has learned that Mr Michael Andersen, the principal in the firm of consultants in the GSM evaluation process, who had earlier declined to attend the tribunal to give evidence, may now be willing to do so.
“As Mr Andersen has not yet signalled to the tribunal that he is agreeable to attending as a witness, the tribunal is trying to ascertain the position though correspondence with his solicitors,” the Taoiseach added.
He said because of the uncertainty on this, Mr Justice Moriarty said it was not possible to be definitive about the impact this development might have on the time it will take to complete his work.
“He assured me, however, that he is doing everything in his power to expedite Mr Andersen’s attendance and to bring the tribunal’s work to the speediest conclusion, consistent with safeguarding the constitutional rights of those persons affected by his inquiries,” said Mr Cowen.
Recent media reports have suggested that Mr Andersen is willing to give public evidence to the tribunal concerning the advice provided to the Department of Communications on the awarding of the second mobile phone licence.
The Taoiseach said that up to the end of March this year, the total cost of the tribunal had been €39.15 million. He added that expenditure for the months of January, February and March 2010 was €414,962, €259,321 and €200,302 respectively.
“The sole member of the tribunal has not yet addressed third-party costs. Until this is done, we cannot estimate the overall cost of the tribunal with any accuracy,” said Mr Cowen.
He added that the tribunal secretariat had on many occasions over the years told his department that any attempt by the tribunal to quantify third-party costs would lead to conclusions being drawn and suppositions being made, which could infringe on the rights of witnesses and impinge on the independence of the tribunal.
Mr Cowen said that the comptroller and auditor general’s special report on tribunals of inquiry, in attempting to establish some estimate of the overall cost of the Moriarty tribunal, gave various ranges for third-party costs but he stressed that the figures were subject to many caveats and contingencies.
Estimates for the total cost of the tribunal, with third-party costs taken into account, put it at more than €100 million.