TD says end financial 'timebomb' tribunals

The vice-chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee has called on the Government to immediately wind down the Moriarty and Mahon (formerly Flood) tribunals.

Mr John McGuinness (Fianna Fáil) said the tribunals were "costing a fortune and bringing the legal system into disrepute". He said it appeared very few people would be brought before the courts, "assuming they will still be alive when the tribunals finally report".

Mr McGuinness said the issues the tribunals have investigated needed to be exposed but this had largely been done. "Those involved should now be dealt with by other agencies of state," he told The Irish Times.

"Some will demand that the tribunals be allowed continue, but to what end, at what cost, and for how long?" He said the motivation for his views was not that the tribunals were causing embarrassment to his party. He was addressing the matter from a public finances point of view.

Mr McGuinness said the full cost of tribunals may not be known for many years because the legal fees of those who appeared before them many not be known until then. "This is a financial timebomb ticking in the background. The sums involved could be very substantial."

He said that many people now cynically viewed the tribunals as a "wealth distribution system" designed to move public money into the pockets of the legal profession. "The perception seriously damages public confidence in the legal profession," he added.

People are asking how many hip replacements, CAT scanners and social support systems could have been paid for by money being spent on tribunals. He said "swift, decisive action" by the Government would get broad public support "because there is only so much exposure to venality and graft that people can take before turning away".

"The objective must now be for other agencies to deal with the wrongdoers and for sensible measures to be put in place to prevent a reoccurrence."

"The country cannot confidently move forward while so much of our moral energy and financial resources are being spent, however justifiably and understandably, raking over the contaminated ashes of the past."

He said there was a need for the Government to consider other more cost-effective and efficient tribunal models. Consideration should also be given to substantially increasing the powers of Dáil committees to investigate and question. This would "bring authority and responsibility back to where it belongs".