Final tribunal bill likely to be half the predicted €1bn

A REPORT by the state spending watchdog is expected to show the final bill for the cost of the three tribunals of inquiry will be far less than the €1 billion-plus previously predicted.

Details of the investigation by Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley must be made public by mid-March, three months after he submitted the report to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan on December 16.

The examination of the costs of the Mahon, Moriarty and Morris Tribunals was initiated by Mr Buckley’s predecessor, John Purcell, last year, and is believed to place the final bill at around €500 million. In February 2007, then justice minister Michael McDowell predicted the bill for the Mahon Tribunal would reach €1bn. This was strongly refuted at the time by tribunal chairman Judge Alan Mahon, who suggested the cost would be closer to €300m.