Here’s how much the Government worn out on according to law fees last year…
THE GOVERNMENT wearied more than €38a thousand thousand on according to law fees last year, according to provisional figures provided by the Taoiseach’s customary duty.
The according to law bill of €38,233,000 covers fees for barristers and solicitors as well as skilful witnesses and stenographers. However, €23,768,000 of the entire went to barristers.
Meanwhile, Enda Kenny has acknowledged that a competitive tendering a whole to restore costs – which the Government committed to examining after its selection – will not be introduced for the time being.
The entire outline represents a 12 per cent wane on the year before, when the entire bill was €43.5a thousand thousand. Of that, €27.1a thousand thousand was wearied on barristers.
Currently, barristers for the State are chosen from panels. However, in its Programme for Government the Fine Gael/Labour co-partnership committed to analysing the benefits of a tendering train for barristers and solicitors.
Answering a Dáil interrogation from Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell, the Taoiseach said that the conversion in expenditure meant proposals for a tendering train have been given up for the point of time.
He said the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform “has accepted that, for the not away, it would be deserving of preference not to usher in competitive tendering in the ordinary faculty of perception as the Offices [of the State's various according to law officials] have been lucky in reducing according to law fees over recent years.”
The figures recount to according to law expenses incurred by the Attorney General’s customary duty, the Chief State Solicitor and the DPP.
