The six interrogators of the Dail Committee on Public Accounts will hide themselves away in a hotel, as soon as the Dublin South Central by-election is over on October 28th, to plan the publication of their report. It will be out before Christmas. Following the euphoria of finishing and while still basking in praise from the great and the good, as well as wide public recognition for a job well done, the PAC sub-committee deputies Jim Mitchell, Pat Rabbitte, Sean Doherty, Sean Ardagh, Bernard Durkan and Denis Foley met for three hours in Leinster House on Wednesday evening to discuss the task before them. They emerged with no illusions about just how daunting it is.
One deputy said he didn't think the same six could undertake such a job again given the huge demands on their time - summer holidays and weekends interrupted, constituency and Dail work neglected and long nights examining red boxes. Their work was compared with a major commercial litigation where they got the papers - and the witnesses - with little or no notice, as opposed to the usual discovery of documents six months in advance.
The year-long inquiry is being held up as a model of speed, efficiency and cost. There were no legal delays, it concluded on time and was very cheap compared with the full judicial inquiries of recent years - Liam Hamilton on beef, Brian McCracken on Ben Dunne's gifts, Feargus Flood on Fingal planning and Michael Moriarty on payments to politicians. But it wasn't all plain sailing. At one stage lawyers for AIB argued that a flaw in the summons delivered to their senior people demanded an immediate and sustained adjournment. After legal consultation, Mitchell's committee admitted AIB might have a case, but to concede would mean many weeks lost. He demanded AIB appear at the PAC anyway and face the TV cameras explaining why they were obstructing the inquiry. The bankers quickly backed down and the DIRT Inquiry went on its merry way.
So what next for the PAC? The full committee meets on Monday to decide what other body will be summonsed and will quake. Word has it that it may well be the Department of Agriculture. Deputy Des O'Malley is still pursuing irregularities in the beef industy and, in particular, the EU fines imposed on the State for past malpractice.