Saving our cents with tribunals may cost us countless euro

By Ryle Dwyer Since last October, Michael Lowry has been the main focus of the Moriarty Tribunal and, when it reconvenes in October, he will again be the focus of attention.

The tribunal has spent all year investigating if any of his property dealings involved some kind of pay off for giving the second mobile phone licence to Denis O'Brien's company. O'Brien had no real track record in the telecom sector, yet he landed the lucrative mobile contract against experienced international competition.

If the Tribunal unearths evidence that indicates there was a corrupt deal, then the other bidders could sue the State for over one billion euro. Thus we are either just wasting a fortune funding the Moriarty Tribunal or we are spending the money so that we can be sued for an even greater fortune.