The investigation by the Committee on Members' Interests of a possible breach of the Ethics in Public Office Act by Denis Foley is likely to be conducted by a triumvirate of chairman Tony Killeen (FF), Jim O'Keeffe (FG) and Brendan Howlin (Lab). The two other members, FF's Liam Lawlor and FG's John Browne are expected to be excluded because both have missed the many preliminary meetings, including the legal briefings with SC Denis McCullough, as Lawlor was abroad and Browne was ill.
This is the first time the committee has investigated a member of the House and it comes on foot of a Labour Party request. So there is much preparation - statements, witnesses and transcripts of Dail and Moriarty Tribunal proceedings. Normally, the committee meets about once a month to answer queries from Oireachtas members, most frequently about the new ethics acts, e.g. should an upgrade on a flight be declared. (Only if it's worth more than £500.) The Committee must now decide whether to hold the Foley proceedings in public when they start in about a month. In London last month, Killeen met the House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee which told him the Neil Hamilton hearings had turned into a media circus. Here, one TV station has already requested transmission rights. The triumvirate don't know what to do. They want everything above board and transparent, but they don't want a circus.