FG: Sinister tribunal powers move

GOVERNMENT plans to proceed with legislation which would give it the powers to shut down a tribunal have been labelled “sinister” by Fine Gael.

Party leader Enda Kenny said yesterday the timing of the legislation was suspicious given that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is due to reappear at the Mahon Tribunal to give evidence before Christmas.

“There is a danger that this will be seen as intimidating a tribunal looking into the Taoiseach’s personal finances,” Mr Kenny told the Dáil. “I regard this move as being quite sinister.”

Labour deputy leader Joan Burton echoed those comments. “Many will see this as essentially a form of potential intimidation of the tribunal in the context of the Taoiseach being due to appear again in the near future,” she said.

But Tánaiste Brian Cowen, taking the order of business in the Dáil, said the opposition’s contentions were “without foundation”.

The Tribunal of Inquiries Bill, first proposed in 2005, would amend legislation dating back to 1924, and the idea that it would potentially intimidate the Mahon Tribunal or other current inquiries was “nonsense”, Mr Cowen said.

“This issue has been on the order paper [of proposed legislation] for some time,” Mr Cowen added.

The bill will go before the Dáil next week. The Government has long insisted that its principle aim is merely to contain the costs of future tribunals.

The law would require all new tribunals to produce a statement of estimated costs and duration within three months of their establishment.

The Government would have the power to dissolve a tribunal, but only with agreement of both the Dáil and Seanad.

The bill would also allow tribunal reports to be admissible in civil cases, as well as clarifying the situation with regard to the awarding of costs by a tribunal.