The public standing of politicians has taken a dive of late and further alarm broke out in Leinster House this week. Deputies and senators received a letter from the solicitors to the Tribunal of Inquiry into payments to Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry, seeking details of all monies over £500 they received while a member of the Oireachtas. Even those long gone, through retirement or defeat, were asked to reply by yesterday, November 14th.
Among themselves the politicians discussed the demand in varying degrees of panic. Many things bothered them. The time scale is open-ended so those in Leinster House for, say, 30 years, are expected to go back to their first day in office. Then, details of all payments, bar the Oireachtas salary, are sought, so professional fees of barristers, for example, or a member's business accounts, or outside salary, are included. Family members also come under the tribunal's scrutiny and donations for election purposes over £500, whether used personally or passed on to the party, are also included.
Several matters struck the politicians: the £500 disclosure rule only came in this year; the vast majority of present and past members do not keep detailed accounts and certainly not ones that go back 40 years. Non-political income was considered their private business, and while a £500 political donation was a big sum in the 1950s or 1960s, these days it is not so out of the ordinary at election times.
Some members consulted their solicitors for advice; others are letting it drift on the grounds, they believe, that the tribunal under Judge Moriarty is far exceeding its terms of reference, which relate to payments to Haughey and Lowry and to the Ansbacher accounts. They cannot be compelled to provide details they do not have, they maintain. There is also a belief that if the tribunal is looking for this kind of detail it will get so bogged down that there is little likelihood of them being dragged before it.