Ahern makes pledge over tribunals bill

Legislation designed to reform how tribunals operate will not apply to existing inquiries, the Government said today.

The pledge comes just weeks before Taoiseach Bertie Ahern gives evidence again at the Mahon Tribunal.

The Government aims to enact the Tribunal of Inquiry Bill 2005 which was previously shelved after Fine Gael and Labour opposed it.

Both parties today told the Dáil it was not appropriate for the Bill to be brought forward so close to Mr Ahern’s next round of evidence, scheduled for December 20 and 21.

Mr Ahern replied: “There is no intention that this legislation applies to current tribunals.

“This Bill would be for future tribunals and it’s not likely the Bill would be completed by the summer.”

The Bill aims to modernise inquiry procedures, reform the fees structure for lawyers and prevent media leaks of confidential documents.

The Taoiseach sat in the witness box for four days in September as he was probed about his personal finances when he was Finance Minister in the mid-1990s.

Pat Rabbitte, Labour Party Justice spokesman, said: “It’s plainly wrong for the Taoiseach to say that this Bill has no application to existing tribunals. It does.

“There’s no question that this bill does apply to existing tribunals, both Moriarty and Morris Tribunals are in their concluding stages.

“The only target of this bill would be the Mahon Tribunal.

“It seems to me that it is exceptionally ham-fisted as to why the Government would seek to bring forward this Bill at a time when the highest office holder in the land is himself waiting a further summons,” he said.