Concerns about the cost of the Flood Tribunal into planning matters were raised by members on both sides of the House.
Mr Peter Callanan (FF) said there was outrage in relation to what was happening about the spending of public monies. Referring to "the drama of yesterday" he said the House should be told what such inquiries were costing per day.
Mr Maurice Manning, Fine Gael Leader in the House, expressed concern at what he termed the increasingly shambolic way in which one of the tribunals was being run. At the end of the day, it was the taxpayers who would pay the very, very large bills which were being run up by the seeming inability of this tribunal to run its affairs in an efficient way.
Several senators contended that the tribunals should be televised to ensure that the public was given value for money. Agreeing with the proposition, Mr Don Lydon (FF) said there was not enough comedy on television. "A good laugh in the evening would help everybody, I think"
Mr Joe O'Toole (Ind) argued that the tribunal should be televised so that taxpayers could see what was happening on behalf of the State.
Mr John Dardis (PD), Deputy Government Leader in the House, said he strongly supported the argument for the televising of these proceedings. Public opinion about the beef tribunal would have been quite different had it been shown on TV, he believed. It was central to a democracy that citizens should have access to tribunals and to the courts, which should also be televised.
Mr Paul Coghlan (FG) said huge numbers of the public were attending the tribunal sittings. This was a compelling argument as to why they should be televised.
Mr Jim Walsh (FF) said he was also concerned about the cost implications for taxpayers. It was time there was a full debate on the cost of legal fees, because undoubtedly what was going on would impact very severely on the taxpayer.