Civil servants criticised for failing to curb lawyers’ fees

THE country’s top civil servants have been criticised for failed attempts to tackle a “golden circle” of tribunal lawyers who made millions in legal fees.

It has also emerged that it may be several years before the issue of legal fees claimed against the Mahon Tribunal is finally decided.

The Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard how five barristers alone at the Mahon Tribunal have earned fees of between €3.5m and €5.3m. At Moriarty, two of the country’s top tribunal lawyers have earned €8.5m each while several more lawyers have mounted up fees of between €1.3m and €5.8m. At Morris, its top paid barristers have earned between €815,000 and €3.2m.

Department of Taoiseach secretary general Dermot McCarthy defended a decision to pay barristers at the Moriarty tribunal a higher daily rate of €2,500, an extra €250 more than other inquiries.

He denied reports it had been solely a “typing error” and insisted the higher fee had eventually been signed off on by the Department of Finance following approval from the Attorney General.

He said the tribunal’s legal team had been small, there had been pressure on their private practices and their work had played a pivotal role in one of its reports featuring the late former Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

PAC member Roisín Shortall queried why a decision made in 2004 to substantially reduce tribunal lawyer fees was rolled back two years later by the Government.

“The government has allowed this gravy train to continue,” said the Labour TD.

She was highly critical of efforts made by the department heads to prevent costs soaring at the tribunals:

“I agree that this is an issue of commercial competency but it is also about will, about having the bottle in taking on the golden circle... the responsibility falls to senior civil servants.”