THE MORIARTY tribunal has asked third parties who gave evidence before it in recent years to submit applications for costs before the end of the month.
The operation of the tribunal has cost more than €41 million so far.
However, once third-party costs are taken into account the total bill for the tribunal will be far higher.
In a report in December 2008 the Comptroller and Auditor General suggested that potential third-party costs associated with the tribunal could ultimately range between €39 million and €80 million, depending on a number of different scenarios.
However, the report made clear there was at that stage insufficient evidence to ground any estimate with precision.
It is understood that in recent days the tribunal has written to third parties asking them to make submissions in relation to costs by July 27th.
In a letter to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee last January, the secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, Dermot McCarthy, said that the tribunal had indicated to it that any attempt to quantify third-party costs would lead to conclusions being drawn and suppositions being made that could infringe the rights of witnesses and impinge upon the independence of the tribunal and its findings.
Mr McCarthy said the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Moriarty, had indicated that parties would be given a short period of time to make applications in relation to costs “following which determination will be made and conveyed with the minimum delay possible”.
Some legal sources suggested yesterday that the tribunal could hold a hearing in the autumn to deal with the issue of the applications for costs.
Mr McCarthy told the public accounts committee that it was not possible at that stage to estimate accurately the total cost of the tribunal to the Department of the Taoiseach, which is effectively the department responsible for the tribunal.
“The department’s expenditure on the tribunal in 2010 was some €3.1 million,” said Mr McCarthy.
