RICHARD REID,
Madam, - On RTÉ's Questions and Answers on Monday night night our Minister for Justice agreed with me that the Dáil, having set up the current Moriarty and Flood tribunals, could stop them, and thereby stop the haemorrhaging of money which the Exchequer does not now have to squander. However, he dismissed the idea because, he said, he could write the response in the Dáil from fellow panellist Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin were he to propose ending the tribunals.
Now Michael McDowell does not normally back off from doing what he thinks is right. Perhaps he now has too many other fish to fry to consider this one worth the hassle? But Charlie McCreevy is only too aware of what the tribunals are costing and he could make better use of the money.
Might he be the one to seek all-party agreement to saying "enough is enough" for the present format of the tribunals and get their jobs finished by other less expensive and more expeditious means? Martin Ferris might even prove his public-spiritedness by co-sponsoring the motion. - Yours, etc
RICHARD REID,
Rathgar Avenue,
Dublin, 6.