Madam, – Ailish Connelly (Opinion, August 19th) would have done well to read the report of the National Competitiveness Council, (NCC) which featured on your Front page of the same day, prior to penning her attempted annihilation of Tánaiste Mary Coughlan’s home truths on professional fees.
While any professional reliant on the property sector, be they architect or conveyancing solicitor, is undoubtedly feeling the effects of the downturn, the NCC reported that, out of the cities surveyed, Dublin had the third-highest health care costs, the third-highest accountancy fees per hour, the third-highest construction costs, the second-highest hourly fees for IT services and the highest corporate legal fees per hour.
While the NCC highlights areas for the Government to take action, it is clear that the professions also have much to answer for in rendering Ireland an expensive place in which to do business. It would be as refreshing to read some acknowledgment of this from their representative bodies, as it was to read of a Fianna Fáil Minister putting it up to them.
As for Ms Connelly’s comments on her husband’s clients, I will perhaps leave that for comment by other readers. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The HSE reports that there was an 18 per cent increase in public out-patient attendances in 2008 compared to the previous year. That contradicts and disproves the unsubstantiated assertion made by Ms Ailish Connelly regarding consultants’ practice in her article.
It is incumbent on your contributors to validate assertions on which they rely in support of their arguments. Your columns should not be used for uncorroborated tirades. – Yours, etc,