A report on the costs of the beef tribunal in the editions of February 8th stated that a senior partner of A. & L. Goodbody asserted that the public had no right to know the detail of a bill, even though the public was being asked to foot it.

The Irish Times accepts that the claim to confidentiality made by A. & L. Goodbody was in relation to amounts paid on account to them by their client during the course of the tribunal. The firm maintained the position that the bill as determined by the Taxing Master, to be discharged by the taxpayer, was a proper matter for public scrutiny.