Revenue and Central Bank pay €59m to legal and accountancy providers in three years

The spend by the Revenue Commissioners on legal and accountancy services for the period from January 2018 to the end of last month totalled €35.3m. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

The Revenue Commissioners and the Central Bank paid out €59m in fees to legal and accountancy service providers since the start of 2018.

That is according to new figures provided by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who has confirmed the spend by the Revenue Commissioners on legal and accountancy services for the period from January 2018 to the end of last month totalled €35.3m. 

The spending by the Central Bank on accountancy and legal service providers amounted to €23.7m during the same period.

Last year, the Revenue Commissioners spent €11.8m on legal and accountancy service providers. 

In a written Dáil reply to Richard Boyd Barrett, Mr Donohoe confirmed the highest amount over the period had been paid by the Revenue Commissioners to Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co Solicitors for €3m. 

The figures show Mason Hayes & Curran was paid €2.49m, Denis I Finn Solicitors was paid €2.2m  and Kirby Healy was paid €2m. 

Other firms to receive in excess of €1m from Revenue over the period were Byrne Wallace, Holmes O’Malley Sexton, and Pierse Fitzgibbon. 

Barristers

The figures also show that during the period, three barristers got fees in excess of €800,000. 

In a separate Dáil response, Mr Donohoe confirmed that last year the Central Bank paid out €4m to legal and accountancy firms, up sharply from the previous two years. 

The highest amount paid to an accountancy firm over the three years was Grant Thornton, which received €2.75m, including €296,743 last year, while Deloitte received €1.86m, Mazars received €1.66m and EY received €1.4m.

Last year, the Central Bank paid out €2.7m to legal service providers.

Mr Donohoe said the Central Bank had told his department that the disclosure of payments to named firms “could prejudice legal proceedings”.