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THE MORIARTY TRIBUNAL is set to finally conclude early next year after costing the taxpayer at least €65.5 million.
The tribunal which looked into the financial affairs of, among others, Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry, has continued to cost the State money, even after the publication of the final report in 2011.
Since 2017, it has cost an additional €10 million through various legal fees.
Officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters, it took 14 years to find that former Fine Gael minister Michael Lowry had an “insidious and pervasive” influence over the awarding of Ireland’s second mobile phone licence in the 1990s to Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone company.
Lowry is currently still a sitting TD for Tipperary. He rejects the findings of the Tribunal, as does O’Brien.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Finance Committee in February 2017, then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny provided a brekadown of the €54 million that had been spent to date.
He said that €35.58 million had been spent on legal fees; €9.764 million had been spent on administration; €6.84 million was spent on third party costs; and €2.55 million was spent on other payments.
In response to a parliamentary question late this year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Tribunal’s work was nearly finished.
He said: “Following publication of that Report, the Tribunal’s team was substantially reduced and a small legal and administrative staff remains in place.
The determination by the Court of Appeal in relation to one of the last remaining sets of legal proceedings taken against the Tribunal took place in 2018. Following the judgement in those proceedings it has been necessary for the Tribunal to give further consideration to certain aspects of the very few remaining applications for costs which the Sole Member is undertaking at present.
The Tribunal continues with wind down and deconstruction, arrangements have been made for proper storage and archiving of files. This process is ongoing at present and a significant portion of this aspect has been concluded in recent months. It is expected that all matters concerning those remaining costs applications will be concluded by early next year.
The final bill for the Moriarty Tribunal is among the highest spent on such an inquiry in the history of the State, but is far less than the €136 million that the Mahon Tribunal has cost to date. The final bill for the Mahon Tribunal is expected to reach €140 million.
The Disclosures Tribunal, which looked into protected disclosures made by Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe, has cost the State €8.2 million to date.
That Tribunal will continue its work into the new year as it continues to look into the final term of reference – protected disclosures by gardaí prior to February 2016 alleging wrongdoing within An Garda Síochána where the garda was subsequently targeted or discredited with the knowledge of senior members of the gardaí.
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Good luck with that France, you get better behaviour out my 4 year old…
Priti probably thinks a another hundred year war would be good, she thought of trying to starve the Irish…
@Cowboy Ted: French are no angels when it comes to colonial history and who caused these regional instabilities in the first place.
@Thomas O’ Donnell: maybe not but they had our back during the Brexit talks……
@Sean Higgins: “they had our back during the Brexit talks……”
Only because they love sticking it to the Brits.
@Will: Read a history book ffs. The French have been our allies for centuries. A lot of people duped into the anti French stuff by a steady diet of British media.
The Brits are right. A turnback policy would stop them overnight
@Nedwerd: it’s been a long time since the British were right.
@Nedwerd: but it should be deport (return) to their home nation and not a transit country. If these people are in the EU illegally (or legally) it is immaterial, normal deportatiom rules is back to country of origin. Same here if you need a visa to enter Ireland but come across the border from NI you get deported to your home country, not back to NI. Likewise if people need a visa to enter the UK and cross into NI they are not deported back south but sent to their home country. If Ireland were used as a back door to the UK would you think everyone entering the UK illegally should be sent back here.
@Nedwerd: Sure force them to make two hideously dangerous crossings in dingys that’ll cut the numbers down.
The people who take their money tell them the UK is where they need to be and put them in throw away boats are the problem.
Where do the traffickers find their victims and sell them passage ? That’s where this has to be stopped at the start not the end.
A decent internationally organised refugee rescue group should be set up to compete with the traffickers. Undercut the crooks and provide good transport and honest advice to the victims – just don’t look like the authorities they fear, look like a better deal and be one.
The criminals are making a huge profit doing a bad job, surely governments can manage a good job at a small loss. It would be a lot cheaper than this mess.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: There are charities in North of France trying to help these people but are harassed and intimidated by French police and gangs
@Lamb: They’re in the wrong place. Everyone seems to be working (mostly at cross purposes and badly) on the symptoms instead of the problem. Like sticking plasters on someone rolling in broken glass without stopping them.
There is way too much finger pointing and way to little cooperation and joined up thinking going on.
France is just a conduit it’s not.surprising they don’t like it but arguing about what to do with the spurting hose doesn’t turn off the tap and that’s what’s needed.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: deportation to home nation is a hard one. How would they prove what country they are originally from they carry no passport
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: Careful lad, you might get accused of talking sense
They took back their own borders so let them look after them. I’m sick and tired of their antics of abusing the good will, political intelligence and diplomatic procedures that the EU respect. Time to let their Brexit hit them and hit them hard.
@2thFairy: Ha the goodwill of the French . No such thing France does what it wants when it wants . Funny how they impound a Scottish trawler but stand by when the migrants are launching their rubber dingy
@2thFairy: Channel crossings went from about 1200 people in 2019 to 25000 in 2021. Go Brexit!!
@Lamb: They also went from dingys to 50 person zodiacs. That takes professional organisation.
I’d like to know if the trips sold to the refugees are end to end or just across the channel. If it’s the former then the channel crissing is the wrong place to look for fixes.
This is what Boris meant by taking back control, lol.
Angleterre Perfide
@Handsome McWonderful: All countries lie it’s called diplomacy and it stinks.
I don’t understand why France feel the need to support or take any responsibility to help the UK with their immigration problem. Britain’s immigration issue is France’s relief valve.
Britain is an outlier of Europe. They voted for Brexit so they could enforce their own immigration rules. The EU has its own immigration problem so why take on Britain’s problems too ?
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