Tribunals: Spending on tribunals of inquiry will continue to rise next year due to a steep increase in the allocation the Moriarty tribunal.
The allocation to the tribunal, which is investigating the affairs of Mr Charles Haughey and Mr Michael Lowry, will increase by 182 per cent, to €10.32 million. The 2003 allocation, which is from the vote of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, was €3.66 million.
The Estimates for the Taoiseach's vote also show that €250,000 will be allocated to the McCracken (Dunnes Payments) tribunal, which also investigated the affairs of Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry. While the inquiry took place in 1997, the allocation is a contingency for unclaimed legal and other fees.
The allocation to the Mahon planning tribunal, formerly chaired by Mr Justice Flood, will fall by 10 per cent next year. Listed under the vote of the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, the tribunal will cost €12 million next year, down from €13.34 million in 2003.
The allocation from the Taoiseach's vote for the Barron inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 and other cases will fall by 40 per cent, to €250,000 from €400,000.