The rail signalling inquiry was effectively wound up yesterday when an Oireachtas subcommittee published a strong defence of the system of parliamentary inquiries in an interim report.
With hearings suspended due to a High Court ruling on a separate investigation into the fatal shooting by gardaí of Mr John Carthy at Abbeylara, Co Longford, the subcommittee was unable to address any of the questions surrounding the €45.7 million overshoot on an Iarnród Éireann signalling system originally costed at €17.78 million. Neither was CIÉ's controversial relationship with Esat Group addressed.
Stating that the subcommittee had found itself embroiled in or affected by legal challenges to the inquiry system, the report warned that legislation passed under the Private Bill procedure could be deemed "constitutionally vulnerable" if the Supreme Court upheld the High Court ruling.
Chaired by Mr Seán Doherty TD, the committee met for a combined total of 235 hours over 26 public sittings and 102 private meetings. Its members were: Mr Jim Higgins TD; Mr Pat Rabbitte TD; Mr Noel O'Flynn TD; Mr Martin Brady; and Mr Austin Currie TD.
Mr Higgins said Fine Gael would propose a Constitutional amendment to safeguard such inquiries if the Supreme Court did not reverse the High Court decision.
The cost to date of the inquiry was €1.56 million, although the final cost could be greatly in excess of that "incomplete" estimate. Significantly, the figure did not include either the cost of legal and financial advisers or print and stationery costs.
The subcommittee said its primary concern was "no longer" what had happened to public resources and how they were applied. "The issue has become the extent to which the Oireachtas can be permitted to exercise its legislative function and, in that regard, to discover an inherent or adjectival power to inquire in discharging this constitution function." It added: "If scrutiny is part of the parliamentary function, then inquiry ought to be a legitimate tool to be used for that purpose."
Defending the inquiry system as an essential means of scrutinising expenditure voted by the Oireachtas, the 60-page report said the Dáil and Seanad were in danger of being relegated to the status of "reasonably well-paid and well-staffed talking shops" with members "sounding off" without having any real input into public policy.
Mr Doherty said the power of inquiry was essential to the relevance of parliament.
He added: "We make the distinction between constitutional interpretation, properly a responsibility of the courts, and constitutional policy, under our current Constitution the responsibility of the Oireachtas and ultimately the people."
Describing such inquiries as a "good thing" and a natural extension of the legislative arm of government, he said "parliament was perceived by some as being diminished in relevance while the executive and judicial arms continue to develop". This was regrettable, he said.
"The growth in executive competence and action, coupled with the increased vigilance of the courts in policing the lawfulness of public administration, has led to a generally perceived decline in the relevance of the third branch of government, the national parliament."
He added: "It goes without saying that, in our view, any attempt to belittle the work of our evolving parliamentary inquiry system as some form of political intermeddling in matters that do not - or should not - concern us ignores our role as elected representatives of the people. It also runs directly counter to the essential thrust of a Constitution."
