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A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT has only allocated €30 million to cover the private legal bills arising from the conclusion of the Mahon Tribunal, which could reach nearly €150 million, TDs have been told this morning.
The Public Accounts Committee, discussing spending in the Department of the Environment, was told that the Department has allocated just €1 million from its own budget this year to the administration of the tribunal, which is likely to issue its final report in the coming weeks.
Marie McLaughlin, the principal officer from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, told members that revised Budget estimates had offered €30 million to cover payments to witnesses whose private legal costs would be paid by the Tribunal.
This is despite estimates from the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Alan Mahon, who estimates that the State’s bill for legal costs could hit €147 million, an estimate based on the State’s experiences in previous tribunals.
This is on top of almost €100 million spent by the State on the Tribunal to date, of which €10 million covered third-party legal costs up to 2002.
McLaughlin said the allocation was a “reasonable amount” to set aside for 2012, because there was “some uncertainty as to when the liability will mature, but not the precise scale”.
She added that the Tribunal’s previous rulings on legal costs, incurred by witnesses between 1998 and 2002, were still only being paid now, with one person only receiving their final payment from the State earlier this year.
“It may well be that costs bills will come through for a significant period of time in the future,” she said.
Geraldine Tallon, the chief civil servant from the Department of the Environment, said her own Department’s budget had not made any provision for third party costs.
She added that the State’s comprehensive review of expenditure had considered the need for allowances to cover the third-party legal bills that the State could be asked to cover in future years.
The State had paid €3.26 million for external counsel to the Tribunal, while three barristers from its internal legal team had received fees of over €5 million.
Patricia Dillon SC was paid €5.59 million, Patrick Quinn SC was paid €5.33 million, and Desmond O’Neill SC was paid €5.27 million.
Tallon later added that the Tribunal kept an administrative system in place to ensure it was not retaining staff for which it had no use. The Tribunal had 46 staff while its hearings were proceeding, but only 21 at the end of last year, she said.
“There are administrative systems and a regulator in place to manage its administration, but in administrative terms – as well as judicial – the Tribunal is operating independently of the Department,” Tallon said.
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Good luck to them, they don’t like out of towners up there be they black, white, Cuban or Asian.
@Bingobango: be worse for them if they were from republic of ireland
@Bingobango: is this actually a thing? I’ve always found Belfast to be very welcoming.
@Darren Bates: It most certainly is a thing, Belfast City Centre is a great place to visit, great bars and restaurants but people live in the most polarised communities you have ever seen, and god help you if you’re not one of them.
@Karl Charlie: Wher is that? No such State exists! The name of the country is “Ireland” or “Éire” if you prefer, as per the Irish Constitution. The RoI is a football team!
@Karl Charlie: RoI is a football team…the name of the State is Ireland or Éire as per the Irish Constitution!
@Bingobango: we are also not fond of a*******s so maybe that is the category you fell into. Communities are in agreement on that issue
@Gerry Cummins: Ireland (Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] (About this soundlisten)), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland.
The island is Ireland but the bottom 3/4 is the Republic of Ireland and the top 1/4 is Northern ireland
@Bingobango: a bit like the north west then
@Karl Charlie: Wrong. This is what the Iriah constitution says:
Bunreacht na hÉireann
ARTICLE 4
The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland.
@Shauna Cochrane: FYI Wikipedia copy and pastes don’t count. It is not a reliable source which is why in academia – wikipedia is not accepted as such.
@Shauna Cochrane: so explain the “republic of Ireland act 1948″ where we left the commonwealth and became THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
@Karl Charlie: I refer you again to the Constitution which supersedes EVERYTHING.
There is polarisation in the South of Ireland as well between the rich, the poor,the travelling community etc. If you live on a council estate your looked down on by a lot of house owners. I’ve been turned down for jobs because of my address,even though I’ve been more qualified than the people who got the jobs. I’ve also been told to go home because I’m not from the South of Ireland and accused of taking a job from a girl in the South. I’ve been treated very badly by people from the South of Ireland. It seems to be who you know in regards to housing and jobs as well. This has been my own personal experience. Random statements don’t help anyone.
@Marie Mc Laughlin:”I’ve been turned down for jobs because of my address”
That’s a very random statement. Did the employer tell you they were turning you down because of your address?
@Marie Mc Laughlin: I would look a little deeper for the real.issue here. Take a hard look and do yourself a favour in the.long term. Best of luck..
@Chin Feeyin: employers are not going to tell you “sorry you didn’t get the position because of where your from” it happens a lot and you would have to have your head in the clouds to think otherwise (not all jobs do it but there are jobs out there that do)
@Chin Feeyin:
yes they did actually ,it was a job in an off licence that a friend got for me. I had the job until they found out my address. I was then told I couldn’t have the job in case my neighbour’s hassled me because they had alcohol problems. Like I said it’s my personal experience not a random statement.
@Lar Meyler: meaning ?
@Marie Mc Laughlin: ” I’ve been treated very badly by people from the South of Ireland”
Ah now Marie not all Munster people are that bad. There are a few sound ones.
@Lar Meyler: what do you mean ? Why would I want to take a good look at myself for ?
@Ali Ní Dhomhnaill: It’s what they told me, I don’t lie.
@Pseud O’Nym: didn’t mean everyone probably worded that wrong, yes there are very good people here
@Marie Mc Laughlin: you were more qualified than the person who got the job in an off license? I rented in Dublin 1 and from my CV you wouldn’t know where I was originally from. I got plenty of work as an engineer. You need to get some skills and stop blaming everyone else.
Children with beards !
@ken gray: In reality they’re probably about 30 – 40 years old – we’ve seen and heard it all before ugh!!!!!!!!!!
@ken gray: Shave the children
Someone’s cleaning house. Could be tied to those bodies in the back of a truck. Someone’s panicking and cutting them lose. Only question s are who’s and where are the adults matched to those kids
A very sad story. Here’s hoping they don’t get lost in the system. We don’t realise how lucky we are to have our children tucked up in bed, safe and sound.
Could have been worse they could have landed in Ireland, the land of a thousand unwelcomes
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