The figure is based on the legal costs paid out at the McCracken tribunal where the central character was also former taoiseach Charles Haughey. The bill for McCracken was Euro6.6m, with the tribunal's legal team costing Euro865,193 (13% of the overall cost) and third-party legal fees coming to Euro5.7m (85% of the overall cost).

Applying these McCracken cost ratios to Moriarty brings its overall cost to around Euro200m. Twenty-five million euro will be spent on tribunal legal fees while third-party legal bills will hit Euro165m.

Moriarty is one of 13 inquiries still underway. They have already cost Euro175m but the final bill will rise significantly when third-party legal fees are submitted with the big costs arising at the Moriarty, Mahon and Morris tribunals.

Legal fees at the Mahon tribunal have so far come to Euro38m with Euro32m of that for the tribunal's legal team and Euro6m for third-party legal fees.

The Morris tribunal has already cost over Euro26m with legal bills accounting for Euro14m.

Preliminary costs at the Moriarty tribunal are currently Euro27.2m - Euro20m of which went to the tribunal's legal team. This total will increase significantly when the tribunal chairman rules on legal bills submitted by witnesses including the Haughey family. It is not certain that the state will have to pay all the fees of individuals like Haughey, who were uncooperative with the tribunal.

Legal opinion remains divided on the Haughey estate's liability, which will be the focus of a D�?il debate on the tribunal report next February. Revenue Commissioners investigations arising from Moriarty and Mahon tribunals have so far raised Euro39.4m. This figure is already Euro30m less than the initial costs of the two investigations and will be dwarfed when the final bills are paid.