Tribunal costs - Suspicion over timing of remarks

There is widespread concern over the legal fees at tribunals, which are a scandal in their own right.

At the rate things have been going, we could end up with a tribunal to inquire into the scandal of the tribunal rip-offs. In many instances tribunal costs have been much worse than the scandals that they have been investigating.

In 2005, Tánaiste Michael McDowell questioned whether the tribunals were worth continuing because of the cost. A bill to tackle the problem was published in November 2005, but 15 months have passed and it has yet to get its first reading in the Oireachtas.