Evidence in relation to the US$50,000 Telenor donation

 

Lengthy and detailed evidence was given to the Moriarty Tribunal over 11 public sitting days in 2001.  Evidence was given about the donation by the following witnesses:

 

Telenor

 

Arve Johansen

Knut Digerud

Per Simonsen

Jav Edvard Thygesen

 

 

Fine Gael

 

Jim Miley (Former General Secretary)

John Bruton

Frank Conroy (Former Fundraiser)

 

Other

 

Denis O’Brien

Peter O’Donoghue

Michael Lowry

 

 

It is clear that Moriarty Tribunal’s insistence on proceeding to public sittings on this matter constituted a hugely costly and time consuming exercise.  It is very likely that every single one of the 11 days’ sittings cost well in excess of twice the value of the donation- perhaps significantly more.   This excludes the cost of the private investigations carried out prior to the public sittings, the fees paid to the Moriarty Tribunal’s legal team in preparing for public sittings in the matter and the fees involved subsequently preparing the relevant chapters in the Tribunal’s final report.   It is certainly arguable that the Irish State would have been best served by an early decision by the Moriarty Tribunal to avoid public sittings based on the complete absence of evidence linking Michael Lowry to the donation.

 

This Moriarty Tribunal’s insistence in proceeding to lengthy public sittings in this matter is relevant in any consideration of the duration, cost and complexity of the Tribunal’s operations.  A necessary feature of an efficient Tribunal process is a proper adherence to the Terms of Reference and a keen appreciation of the parameters of the mandate set down by the those establishing the Tribunal (in this case the Oireachtas).