Taoiseach defends legal fee rise

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday defended tribunal lawyers’ fee raises of up to €800 per day by saying the increases are the going rate.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said it was time to call in the public spending watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General, to assess the effectiveness of the lawyers’ fees for tribunal work which are now up to €2,500 per day for the top earners.

Labour leader Ruairí Quinn said the level of fees was extraordinary and pointed out a potential conflict of interest since the country’s leading barrister, the Attorney General, was sitting at the Cabinet table which fixed the rates.