TWO SENIOR counsel working for the Moriarty tribunal have so far earned €8.5 million each, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee heard yesterday.
Figures outlined by the departments with responsibility for the Mahon, Moriarty and Morris tribunals showed the 15 highest paid legal counsel earned €55.85 million between them over the lifetime of the tribunals so far.
The committee also heard the chairmen of each of the three tribunals had sole responsibility for choosing the barristers who would work with them.
John Coughlan SC, with the Moriarty tribunal, has earned €8.5 million so far, as has his colleague Jerry Healy SC.
The top earners on the Mahon tribunal were Des O’Neill SC, Patricia Dillon SC and Pat Quinn SC, who earned €5.3 million, €4.87 million and €4 million respectively.
Paul Anthony McDermott SC earned €3.19 million with the Morris tribunal, while Tony Barr SC earned €2.52 million and Peter Charleton SC earned €2.23 million.
The daily rate for the Mahon and Morris tribunals was €2,250 while counsel with the Moriarty tribunal earned €2,500.
The Morris tribunal, under the auspices of the Department of Justice, took seven years to complete, while the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals, under the Departments of the Environment and the Taoiseach, have been running for 12 years so far.
The final overall cost for the Morris tribunal, which investigated allegations of Garda corruption in Donegal, is expected to be about €70 million, Seán Aylward, secretary general at the Department of Justice said.
While the Comptroller and Auditor General had estimated the cost of the Mahon tribunal, which looked into planning irregularities in Dublin, at between €171 million and €194 million, the committee was told it would be several years before third party costs are finally determined.
Geraldine Tallon, accounting officer with the Department of the Environment, said the Mahon tribunal report, though expected late this year, may be delayed by a High Court case challenging the decision by chairman Alan Mahon not to allow for final submissions by relevant parties on any draft adverse findings.
Dermot McCarthy, secretary general at the Department of the Taoiseach, said the Moriarty tribunal sole member, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, had said the recent hearings could give rise to revised provisional findings and until submissions were received on those findings, it would not be possible to say whether or not there would be further public hearings.
The cost of the Moriarty tribunal, established to examine payments to politicians, is estimated at €100 million.
In the case of all three tribunals, the chairmen had sole responsibility for choosing legal counsel.
Deputy Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil, described the approach as “extremely cavalier”.
He said the tribunals had been subject to accusations of cronyism and could be seen as “exclusive clubs” at the discretion of their chairmen.
Commenting on a decision made by the Government not to enforce a reduction in legal fees they had promised to impose in 2004, Mr McCarthy said the capacity to retain existing counsel would have been “severely compromised” if there had been a significant change in their terms and conditions.
This would have meant the “continuity of service was in hazard”, Mr McCarthy added.
But Fianna Fáil TD Seán Fleming said senior counsel had come and gone from tribunals and even the retirement of Justice Feargus Flood, from what is now the Mahon tribunal, had not affected continuity.
He blamed high legal fees on a lack of commercial competence among civil servants and said a much lower rate should have been agreed given the duration of the tribunals.
Mr Aylward said senior counsel earned €5,000 in the High Court in some cases.
Labour TD Róisín Shortall said the “Government decided this gravy train could continue”.
She asked Mr McCarthy if he believed there was cause for concern.
He responded that in terms of the structuring of the work of the inquiry, “the tribunal model was flawed”.
