Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has denied there was any sinister motive behind the Government's plan to introduce new legislation which would allow the legislature to shut down tribunals and control their length.
He has accused the Opposition of being ill-informed on the matter.
Mr Ahern said yesterday there was no question that the reintroduction of the Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005 would have any effect on existing tribunals and said they would only apply to future tribunals established by the Oireachtas.
"I think [ Minister for Justice] Brian Lenihan made this clear today. This has nothing to do with existing tribunals - it will only apply to future ones, unknown future ones, so it's not any of the existing ones," Mr Ahern said during a visit to Toomevara, Co Tipperary.
He dismissed a suggestion by the Fine Gael Seanad spokesman on justice, Eugene Regan, that a Government briefing document on the bill amounted to an attempt to target The Irish Times.
Mr Regan said in the Seanad on Thursday that the Government briefing paper dealt with the legal obligations in relation to disclosure of information.
"I just wonder what is the basis of this statement? Is it an attempt to target The Irish Times and is it an attempt at some form of retaliation against The Irish Times?" Mr Regan asked.
Mr Ahern said yesterday: "No, no, I don't know that man actually but he's saying an awful lot about a lot of things and he's equally ill-informed on them all actually, and I think he's becoming a bit of a loudmouth of the present Seanad."
He said Mr Regan was "wrong anyway, in most of what he says".
Mr Ahern was equally dismissive of questions about the timing of the Bill and a suggestion by Fine Gael Dáil spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan that its timing smacked of an attempt to intimidate the Mahon tribunal before it heard evidence from Mr Ahern before Christmas.
"Not at all, these are stupid comments by stupid people," said Mr Ahern, who said the purpose of the new Bill was to address deficiencies arising from the 1921 legislation upon which the existing tribunals were established so that future tribunals would be more effective and efficient.
"The whole issue about the new Bill is to try and learn from the lessons and the deficiencies of the 1921 Act in the huge costs that have been incurred and the length of time. We are continually criticised by the length of time that these tribunals have gone on now into the second decade.
"What we are trying to do is make them more effective . . it's just to look at the huge experience that we've had now of about eight tribunals in the last 10 years or so, trying [ an] improvement on that mechanism - there were a lot of shortfalls. The 1921 Act is over 86 years old . . . this is updating and modernizing the tribunals for everyone's benefits."
