The Morris tribunal may use the courts to force the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, to disclose documentation on Garda operations in Co Donegal following the Commissioner's move to claim privilege over them.
The tribunal, which is investigating allegations of Garda corruption, confirmed last night that if the issue was not resolved satisfactorily at a hearing of the inquiry, it could be referred to the High Court for adjudication.
Such a situation would result in the tribunal taking longer to complete its work as well as adding to its cost - it has already incurred €2.18 million in legal and administrative charges without having yet begun the hearing of evidence.
Oral hearings were due to begin on February 3rd. However, the tribunal said that it was now unable to meet this date because of the Garda Commissioner's stance on the discovery of documents.
In a thinly veiled criticism of Mr Byrne, the tribunal said that he had "unfortunately" sought a two-week extension of time within which to file an affidavit of discovery in response to the tribunal's order of discovery of December 5th last.
The tribunal said that the Commissioner had claimed privilege over a number of documents, "resulting in the tribunal being unable to study these until that claim is clarified". In addition, "further documents, which are claimed to be privileged, have yet to be delivered".
A spokeswoman for the Garda Commissioner said last night that Mr Byrne was not making any comment on the matter.
The documentation relates to the first module of the inquiry, that covering alleged hoax explosives finds in Co Donegal.
It is understood that the papers include intelligence reports gathered by members of the Donegal division from alleged IRA informers, such as Ms Adrienne McGlinchey, who claimed to have planted hoax explosives in order to help certain gardaí secure promotions within the force.
Setting a fresh date of March 3rd for the beginning of oral hearings, the tribunal said that it expected "full co-operation" from all parties to enable it to complete its work expeditiously.
The tribunal noted that a number of parties were already in the process of making voluntary discovery in order to meet next month's target hearing date.
The inquiry had previously criticised the Garda authorities for allowing certain members of the force to avoid giving a full account of their movements on the night of the killing of Richie Barron in October 1996.
In his opening statement last November, counsel for the tribunal, Mr Peter Charleton SC, said: "We do not believe that it is to the benefit of An Garda Síochána that people, when confronted about their duties by superior officers, are apparently allowed to remain silent."
The tribunal has also made general comments about difficulties in relation to investigating the allegations. However, yesterday was the first occasion for it to issue a statement commenting on a particular party's approach to the discovery of documents.
The statement noted that the tribunal's legal team had already had a number of meetings with representatives of the Commissioner, the Department of Justice and former ministers for justice. "We thank those parties for the courtesy they have shown us and for their co-operation to date. Further meetings are scheduled to take place."
A spokesman for the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said that it would not be appropriate for him to comment.
Mr Byrne has repeatedly stated his commitment to investigating the Donegal allegations. In June 2001, he told reporters: "You can be assured of one thing - that all aspects of it will be pursued by me. I take this very, very seriously and that is manifest in the levels of officers who have been sent to carry out investigations on alleged criminality and also into alleged breaches of discipline."
