The news that a reduced fees regime for lawyers in some existing tribunals of inquiry will not take effect this year or next will disappoint many people. The total cost of these tribunals, running to more than €440 million by the end of this year, has been a cause of grave public concern. It has also given rise to unease in the legal community.
The Law Reform Commission, for example, has criticised the payment of counsel for years on end on the basis of a daily rate of about €2,500. Therefore, the decision of the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, to replace these fees with a fixed annual salary equivalent to that of a High Court judge received a wide welcome.
But it is proving a difficult decision to implement in the case of existing tribunals. Barristers do not have a contract with their clients, so those working with the tribunals could not insist on continuing with the same level of fees. They could, however, vote with their feet and decide not to continue with the work. This distinct possibility was clearly in the minds of the chairmen of the tribunals when they discussed the start date for the new fees regime with the Attorney General.
Many of the tribunals came into existence because of fierce resistance to other attempts to establish the truth about corruption and wrongdoing by public officials. Examples include politicians lying to the Dáil and certain gardaí refusing to co-operate meaningfully with Garda investigations into their activities in Co Donegel.
It took some of the best legal minds to unearth evidence of corruption in planning and of wrongdoing by members of the Garda Síochána, to name but two areas under investigation. Both these tribunals - Mahon and Morris - are continuing and have much to do.
Against this background, the Attorney General had to balance the need to restrict costs with the continuance of the work involved. An abrupt dismantling of legal teams which has been considered by individual barristers over the summer - would undoubtedly be disruptive. Clearly those tribunals likely to conclude soon will be allowed do so on the existing terms, while the others will be expected to move to the new fee regime at a convenient staging post in their work.
The challenge remains to ensure that future scandals are investigated thoroughly and efficiently, without incurring undue costs and without total reliance on lawyers. Even more fundamentally, the need for such investigations must be reduced by ensuring that proper accountability is in place for those serving the public interest or being financed by the taxpayer.