Government Accussed of Intimidating Mahon Tribunal

The Tribunals of Inquiry Bill (2005) has been put back on the order paper. The bill was introduced in late 2005 and resurrected again last year following the original leaks to the Irish Times about Bertie Ahern’s payments. The bill gives government power to rationalise the tribunals, including closing them down and comes back on the agenda around four weeks before Bertie is due back in the stand at Mahon. The argument made in the Dail by both Enda Kenny (release here) and Joan Burton this morning was that this is a clear attempt to intimidate the tribunal (again).

Cowen accussed the two of political opportunism and said the Bill would have no effect on the running of the tribunals. However a bill with the power to shut down the tribunals just plain looks bad, perhaps its another event in the long deaf-streak this government appears to have encountered but the fact is that perception is 80% of reality. Giving oneself the power to shut down a body which is investigating you, as this bill does, just doesn’t really appear correct.

Of course government can point to the costs as justification and 99% of the time it would be a clincher of an argument but when the Tribunal has turned to investigate the Taoiseach, no matter how spurious the allegations may appear to be, it just looks like an attempt to muzzle the investigation. Bertie may have had his political nous rewired but you would expect Brian Cowen and others to appreciate the dodgy look this has about it. They may never exercise the power to shut down the tribunal but having that power in the first place is potentially sufficient to alter the outcome.