Committee urges probe into legal fees

THE scale of legal fees paid to solicitors in personal injury actions must be investigated as a matter of urgency, a Dáil committee has said.

The call comes as recent figures revealed that of the €6.5bn paid out in insurance claims in the last five years, €1.3bn consisted of legal fees.

In its interim report on reforms to the Irish insurance market, released yesterday, the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business recommended the Government hold an inquiry into whether legal fees are reasonable for the work done by solicitors.