Two lawyers each paid fees in excess of €2m by state

Two lawyers received fees in excess of €2m from the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO) over the past five years with a further 13 each receiving €1m.

According to figures provided by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Sara Moorhead SC has received €2.2m in fees (incl VAT), with Siobhan Stack BL receiving €2.19m for acting in the civil courts on behalf of Government departments and other state authorities between 2007 and 2011.

The figures show, before rates were cut by the Government, Ms Moorhead was earning on average €1,334 per week in Government fees in 2009 or €693,823 for that year.

The previous year, Ms Moorhead received €583,374 in fees when Ms Stack received €629,693.

Last year, the Government paid €10.2m in fees to senior and junior counsel for acting on behalf of the state in the civil courts. This compares with €17.7m paid in 2008 when 12 barristers received fees between €300,000 and €630,000.

In response to Dáil queries from Sinn Féin’s Justice spokesman, Jonathan O’Brien, Mr Kenny said “the CSSO has implemented much tighter control of expenditure on fees to Counsel and has achieved a €7.5m reduction in 2011 over the 2008 figure”.

“This represents a 42% reduction in expenditure since 2008. The office will continue to monitor this expenditure and reduce this cost further if at all possible.”