Tribunal obstructors must pay, says Ahern

POLITICIANS and businessmen who obstructed the Flood Tribunal should not have their legal costs paid by the taxpayer, the Taoiseach accepted yesterday.

Inquiries to be held in private, currently being planned by the Government, would amount to only one tenth of the cost of current tribunals, according to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.

Private commissions of inquiry would be heard by a judge but would be free from an adversarial legal participation, thereby cutting down substantially on costs.