Vol. 538 No. 1
62 Ms McManus asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the costs incurred by the State arising from the various inquiries instigated by or on behalf of her Department at the latest date for which figures are available; when elements of these costs have been recovered from a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17228/01]
The costs incurred since 1997 on company investigations initiated by or on behalf of my Department currently amount to about £5.34 million. This amount does not include the salary costs of Civil Service staff who are working on a number of these investigations. Similarly, the major proportion of the legal costs relating to the investigations are being borne by the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor.
The NIB inquiry has not yet concluded. I intend to petition the High Court to order the full recoupment from the companies concerned of these costs on completion of the inquiries.
