Consultants’ fees reach €7.5m for regulator services

FINANCIAL consultants drafted in to provide additional supervisory services for the Bank Guarantee Scheme received fees totalling €7.5 million.

Invoices submitted to the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority show one of the firms, Deloitte and Touche, charged €56,999.99 for 21 days’ work provided by two staff members seconded to the regulatory authority. This means €1,357.14 was charged per day for each worker. Fees were billed under “time charges” of €52,499.99 and “expenses incurred” of €4,500, meaning each of the two staff received expenses of €107 per day.

A second invoice shows accountancy firm Deloitte charged an additional €116,300.57 for secondment services in relation to the Financial Regulator’s review of director’s loans in five institutions. This included VAT of more than €20,000. The total Deloitte bill in respect of three invoices in 2009 and 2010 amounted to €412,399.20.