What are the tribunals in Ireland good for

Sceala Clann T.D. Location: Wicklow

We pay our taxes into what was long a highly successful economic state that provided in return ....poorly funded essential public social services.
Our education and health systems both funded below eu averages.
In our circumstance it is even more concering to read of the ...cash merry go-rounds known as ....tribunals ...in Ireland.

Tribunal legal fees run to €60m
Eighteen barristers and solicitors on the legal teams of the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals have earned more than €1m each over the 10 years of the sittings. The bill for the two tribunals' legal teams so far has exceeded €60m.
Des O'Neill SC, who has gained fame for his interrogation of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, tops the Mahon list at €4.8m. But two of the Moriarty team have earned more than €7m each. And these will constitute only a fraction of the total bill.
Judge Alan Mahon estimates the cost of his tribunal at €300m, but some estimates go much higher.

Top tribunal lawyer earns €4.8m in fees
By Michael Brennan Political Correspondent Irish Independent
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's tribunal adversary has earned €4.8m from his role in the Mahon inquiry alone.
The multi-million euro sum has been paid in legal fees to senior counsel Des O'Neill, who has gained fame for his unrelenting cross-examination of the Taoiseach at Dublin Castle.
Mr O'Neill is at the top of the Mahon Tribunal's earners' list and is one of 18 barristers and solicitors who have become legal millionaires from their work with the tribunals.
But his earnings are dwarfed by those of Moriarty Tribunal barristers John Coughlan and Jerry Healy, who have been paid €7.2m and €7m respectively for their work since 1997.
According to the latest figures obtained by the Irish Independent, the total bill so far for the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals' legal teams has topped €60m.
While barristers at the Moriarty Tribunal have earned more, Mr O'Neill is easily the highest earner at the Mahon hearings.
His role cross-examining Mr Ahern about his personal finances this year brought him to public attention.
He joined the tribunal in 1998, assuming the role of interrogator-in-chief when senior counsel John Gallagher left to return to private practice.
The highest-earning barrister at the Mahon Tribunal after Mr O'Neill is senior counsel Patricia Dillon, who has earned €4.4m, and senior counsel Patrick Quinn, who has earned €3.4m.
Both tribunals have reached their 10th anniversary and senior and junior barristers are still being paid rates of €2,500 and €2,000 a day respectively.

The Government had threatened before the election to implement legislation introduced in 2004 -- which would have seen the daily earnings of senior counsel drop from €2,500 to €900 -- but it opted to leave the fees unchanged.
That means the inquiries have become the single biggest earner for lawyers in the State's history, particularly the Mahon Tribunal, which has far more barristers on its legal team.
It accounts for 14 of the 18 "tribunal millionaires", with senior counsel such as John Gallagher and Patrick Hanratty earning €3.4m and €1.8m respectively before returning to private work.

The list also includes seven junior counsel at the Mahon Tribunal, who traditionally earn far less than their senior counterparts in the Four Courts. The top earners are Eunice O'Raw and Annette Foley, who have made €3.3m and €1.5m respectively, while Mairead Coughlan made €2.1m before she left the Mahon Tribunal.
The list also includes two solicitors -- Susan Gilvarry, who has earned €1.4m at the Mahon Tribunal, and Maire Aine Howard, who earned €1.1m before she left the Moriarty Tribunal.
The figures, updated to the end of last month, were supplied to the Irish Independent by the Department of the Environment (responsible for Mahon) and the Department of the Taoiseach (responsible for Moriarty).
The Mahon Tribunal has cost the state €38m in legal fees so far -- an average of almost €48,000 for each of its 805 sitting days.
It is due to conclude its public sittings early next year and the final bill, which will include the legal costs of witnesses, has been estimated by Judge Alan Mahon at €300m.
The 10-year Moriarty Tribunal has cost the State €23m in legal fees so far. It has concluded its public sittings and is expected to issue its report into the awarding of the second mobile phone licence to the Esat Digifone consortium in the New Year.

Reference to purpose
Republic of Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, public inquiries, have become much used in recent years. While they have been the subject of many dramatic revelations in Irish politics, they have also become known for running long beyond their intended length - the extreme case being the Planning Tribunal (previously the Flood Tribunal) which is currently in its eighth year and has heard 615 days of evidence so far.

Inquiries in the Republic of Ireland are governed under Section 1 of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act of 1921. (This act, being a UK statute enacted before the setting up of the Irish Free State, continues to apply for the time being in the Republic of Ireland). It has, however, been amended since by several Acts of the Oireachtas. The chair of the inquiry is mandated by the Oireachtas (following resolutions in both the Dáil and the Seanad) to carry out the inquiry into matters of urgent public importance by a Warrant of Appointment. The terms of reference of the inquiry are given as part of that warrant.

Tribunals of Inquiry are invested with the powers, privileges and rights of the Irish High Court. It is not a function of a Tribunal to administer justice, their work is solely inquisitorial. Tribunals are required to report their findings to the Oireachtas. They have the power to enforce the attendance and examination of witnesses and the production of relevant documents. Tribunals may consist of one or more persons, though the practise has been to appoint a Sole Member. Tribunals may sit with or without Assessors (who are not Tribunal members). Sittings are usually held in public but can, at the Tribunals discretion, be held in private.

Notable Irish public inquiries

* 1926: Retail prices of articles in general consumption
* 1926: Ports and Harbours
* 1928: Shooting of Timothy Coughlin
* 1929: Whether mixture of maize meal and maize products with home-grown cereals would be in the national interest
* 1930: Marketing of butter
* 1933: Pig production
* 1934: Grading etc. of Fruit and Vegetables
* 1935: Town Tenants
* 1936: Pearse Street Fire
* 1938: Public Transport
* 1943: Fire at St. Josephs Orphanage, Cavan
* 1943: Dealings in Great Southern Railway Stocks between 1 January 1943 and 18 November 1943
* 1946: Allegations concerning Parliamentary Secretary
* 1947: Disposal of Distillery of John Locke and Co. Ltd., Kilbeggan
* 1957: Cross Channel Freight Rates
* 1967: Death of Liam O'Mahony in Garda custody
* 1969: "Seven Days" Television programme on illegal moneylending
* 1975: Allegations made by two Members in the Dáil against the Minister For Local Government
* 1979: Costello Inquiry into the Whiddy Island Disaster
* 1981: Tribunal of Inquiry into the Stardust Disaster
* 1984: The Kerry Babies Tribunal to determine the cause of death/connection between the bodies of two babies found within a short period of time in County Kerry
* 1991: Tribunal of Inquiry into the Beef Industry, chaired by Mr Justice Liam Hamilton
* 1997: Tribunal of Inquiry into Payments to Politicians by Ben Dunne - the McCracken Tribunal.
* 1996: Hepatitis C scandal
* 1997–ongoing: Tribunal of Inquiry (Dunnes Payments) (follow-up), the Moriarty Tribunal
* 1997–ongoing: Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments, now known as The Mahon Tribunal
* 1999: Lindsay Tribunal to investigate the infection of haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products.
* 2002–2006: Tribunal of Inquiry into the siege and shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara, County Longford, the Barr Tribunal
* 2002–ongoing: Tribunal of Inquiry into complaints concerning some Gardaí of the Donegal Division, the Morris Tribunal
* 2005–ongoing: Commission of Investigation: Dublin and Monaghan Bombings 1974 (Sole Member: Patrick MacEntee SC QC)

What difference has a single one of these tribunals made to Irish society ....has corruption gone away ....have politicians become honest power brokers ....do we live in a healthier ...a safer ..or more secure and happier environment.
What unique or tangible benefits has any tribunal contributed to Irish society.
If there were any real benefits presented via any tribunal findings ....why was a costly tribunal essential.

What or who are Irish tribunals actually good for ....
The only logical reason that tribunals still exist in the antiquated form is ....that they greatly benefit those within the Irish legal system.
The primary beneficiaries of the tribunals in Ireland is not the Irish public ... it is the lawyers ....some earning €2000 a day.
When we allow barristers and solicitors to become so .....wealthy for investigating corruption and abuses ....we ignore the dilemma and the rotten barrel.

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What are the tribunals in Ireland good for