Lenihan defends €2m fee to bailout advisers

FINANCIAL management firm Merrill Lynch will earn at least €2 million from advising the Government on the bank bailout scheme.

The Government defended the contract, saying it is a relatively small amount of money compared with the fees the banks will pay in return for the bailout.

But Labour said it was clear that the Government had “learned nothing” from the Fás expenditure debacle.