THE names of politicians or public servants mentioned in the Price Waterhouse report as having received contributions from Mr Ben Dunne or Dunnes Stores are not now expected to be published for several weeks.
Today Judge Gerard Buchanan will begin sifting through more than 1,200 names in the report at offices allocated to him and his assistants in Fleming House, off Baggot Street, Dublin.
He is being assisted by the deputy director of the Comptroller and Auditor General's Office, Mr Michael Buckley, and up to five other staff members will be appointed in the next two days.
The Government has asked Judge Buchanan to give priority to political names in the first phase of his examination. After this, he will turn his attention to public servants who may be included in the list.
Meanwhile, the Government is to counter a private member's motion from the Progressive Democrats tonight which calls for a tribunal of inquiry into the affair. The Government motion will simply seek to establish an inquiry through the Committee on Procedures and Privileges.
Fianna Fail's front bench is scheduled to meet this morning to consider whether to support the Progressive Democrats' motion, which will be voted upon tomorrow night.
Judge Buchanan arrived at Government Buildings at lunch time yesterday to receive the document in a sealed envelope from the Secretary to the Government, Mr Frank Murray. The report had earlier been given to Mr Murray by lawyers for Dunnes Stores. A Government spokesman said last night that the Coalition had seen no summary or synopsis of the report".
In accordance with the terms of reference agreed by the three Government leaders, relevant persons named in the report will be given an opportunity to explain why payments or transactions were made. The judge will write to individual Oireachtas members, past and present, mentioned in the report and, having considered their replies, will forward their names to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges (CPP).
The same mechanism will apply for public servants who appear on the list.
The CPP will then establish a sub committee to hear evidence from Oireachtas members and it is envisaged that the names will become public at that stage. Government sources could not put a time limit on the procedure, adding that it was up to Judge Buchanan to decide how long the process should take.
The Fianna Fail chief whip, Mr Dermot Ahern, said the Government's proposal was "just unworkable" while the Progressive Democrats' leader, Ms Mary Harney, insisted that the judicial tribunal proposed by her party was "the only mechanism that can get at the truth".