Flood defends salaries of tribunal barristers

The former chairman of the planning tribunal, Mr Feargus Flood, has defended his former staff against criticism of high legal earnings.

Mr Flood, who retired last year, told RTÉ's Marian Finucane Show yesterday that the barristers on the planning tribunal were not overpaid.

He described the staff of the long-running inquiry as "first-class" and "classically good".

The 75-year-old pointed out that barristers who take up work on the tribunal effectively "part company" from their practices in the Law Library, pay VAT and have to fund their own pensions.

He conceded that top-level earnings in the Law Library were "very high" but said this showed that the fees paid to tribunal barristers were not excessive by comparison.

In performing what was a rare media interview, Mr Flood reversed an earlier decision not to accept an invitation to appear on the programme because of proceedings that have been taken against him by aggrieved witnesses before the tribunal.

In the interview, he also defended the tribunal against criticism of its length and claims that unfair allegations have been made against people without prior notice.

Mr Flood said each witness was entitled to give his version of an event, while the "target" of the witness equally had a constitutional right to respond, to call witnesses and to cross-examine.

The tribunal wasn't aiming to convict anybody but was trying to find out what had occurred "on the balance of probabilities".

The former chairman admitted that a person on the receiving end of an allegation could find himself "at a disadvantage" in the immediate aftermath.

However, when the person gave evidence, he would have the opportunity to show himself as a truthful person and it would follow that any report would clear him of wrongdoing.

Asked about Mr Liam Lawlor, he said he wouldn't "inflict" his views on listeners. Mr Lawlor was "a character of remarkable genius" but it was difficult to know exactly where his talents resided. He said it was "hard to dislike" Mr James Gogarty.