An Oireachtas committee will today decide if it can hold a public inquiry into the granting of the second mobile telephone licence to Esat Digifone in 1995, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Reporter.
The Parliamentary Legal Adviser, Ms Lia O'Hegarty, received a confidential communication from the Moriarty tribunal on the matter late on Tuesday. Last week, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport asked her to check if there would be an overlap between any inquiry it might hold and the work of the tribunal. She will convey her legal opinion to the committee when it meets at 2.30 p.m. today.
On Tuesday, Mr Jim Higgins TD (Fine Gael) and other sources said that the tribunal had indicated earlier that it did not have any problem with an investigation by TDs and senators. However, the chairman of the committee, Mr Sean Doherty, said that the Moriarty tribunal had "not given the go-ahead". He added: "With all respect to the tribunal, it is not its function to do that."