The Government will today discuss the controversial issue of reducing fees paid to lawyers at the Mahon tribunal following the recent row over spiralling costs which are running into hundreds of millions of euro.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche confirmed to The Irish Timeslast night that he was bringing a memo on Mahon tribunal costs to the weekly meeting of Cabinet, in which the issue of reducing lawyer costs will be referred to.
He said he would be outlining to his Cabinet colleagues the up-to-date position on the fees, and correspondence between him and the tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, since Tánaiste Michael McDowell claimed this month that the total cost of the tribunal would exceed €1 billion.
In 2004 the Government agreed to reduce legal fees at the Moriarty tribunal in January 2007, and at the Mahon tribunal in March 2007. The Cabinet last month deferred the reduction of the Moriarty fees until next month.
Mr Roche stressed that a decision on going ahead and reducing lawyer fees by the end of March would not be taken at today's meeting. "We will be discussing all aspects of the tribunal and costs, and I don't expect any definite decisions to be made. I am briefing Ministers on the up-to-date situation."
It is believed that Mahon lawyers are strongly resisting a reduction in fees, and Mr McDowell said recently it was his understanding that lawyers may walk out of the tribunal if reduced fees are imposed.
Mr McDowell said unless there was an "extraordinary reason " he saw no reason why the fees should not be reduced, as agreed in 2004, at the end of next month.
After Mr McDowell claimed the tribunal's cost could hit €1 billion, Judge Mahon responded in a letter to the Clerk of the Dáil saying the cost would be less than a third of that figure at about €300 million. However, the Tánaiste has stood over his claim.
Mr Roche said he has had "ongoing cordial contact" with Judge Mahon in the last few weeks on the matter.
"I will be updating my Cabinet colleagues on that, and we will be discussing all aspects of the fees issue. We still have a bit to go to resolve outstanding issues."
The tribunal had a job to do "but they have to get where they are going as economically, efficiently and effectively as they can".