Flood defends inquiry’s legal fees

FORMER chairman of the planning tribunal, Justice Feargus Flood, said yesterday that the fees paid to his staff in the seven-year-long, €30 million inquiry were perfectly justified.

Revealing the tribunal was intended to last less than a year, Justice Flood defended the cost and time invested in the inquiry into corruption, now known as the Mahon Tribunal.

“One thing I am quite happy to say, and say very, very firmly, is the salaries being paid to my staff, or what were my staff, are absolutely justified.