The rail-signalling inquiry may never make a report, chairman Mr Sean Doherty claimed today after indefinitely suspending the Oireachtas sub-committee’s work.
Following a call for the abandonment of the investigation in light of last week’s High Court decision on the Abbeylara inquiry, the chairman said the sub-committee could not undermine the judiciary by proceeding with its work and announced an adjournment until further notice.
The inquiry is investigating why a CIÉ rail-signalling project, which is yet to be completed, overran its estimated costs by some £36 million. It also is investigating the circumstances surrounding the arrangement Iarnród Éireann had with Esat in laying fibre optic cables on its rail network.
Last week, the High Court ruled - in relation to the inquiry into the Garda killing of Mr John Carthy in Abbeylara - that the Oireachtas did not have the power to conduct public hearings into citizens who are not members of the Oireachtas.
Mr Patrick Rowan, counsel for the family of former chief executive of CIÉ the late Mr Michael McDonnell, called for the winding up of the inquiry this morning. After a brief adjournment, the sub-committee returned with its chairman saying he could not set a date for the resumption of the inquiry.
He said the sub-committee was nearing the end of the evidence-gathering phase of its work and that counsel for Mr McDonnell’s family may now not get the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses at the inquiry.
"I confess I do not understand how the same constitution appears to mean one thing in Kildare Street and another at Inns Quay," Mr Doherty said.