Child welfare legal fees in Cork and Kerry dwarf other regions

LEGAL fees incurred taking children into care in child protection and welfare cases in the Cork/Kerry region are far higher than any other area in the country.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show in 2007 and 2008 in the Cork and Kerry region, legal costs came to more than €6 million.

For the same period, the combined total for Limerick, Clare, Roscommon, Mayo, Donegal, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim came to just over €3m.