Flood inquiry costs over £5 m, share of two lawyers over £1 m

Costs incurred by the Flood tribunal into planning corruption have risen above £5 million, and the two leading barristers on the tribunal team have shared over £1 million in legal fees so far.

The total expenditure on the tribunal from November 1997 to date is £5,564,842.67, according to new figures from the Department of the Environment.

About half of this has been spent on legal fees for the tribunal lawyers; Mr Patrick Hanratty and Mr John Gallagher, the two senior counsel originally appointed to the tribunal team, have earned over £550,000 each in fees so far.

The individual cost of four out of the five senior counsel is higher than the entire pay cost for non-legal staff. Senior counsel are paid £1,350 each working day, whether or not the tribunal is in public session. Junior counsel earn £900 a day.

The final figure is expected to rise above £20 million when costs are awarded to parties granted representation.

The money has been expended over about 150 days of private and public hearings, including a three-week sojourn to hear the evidence of Mr Joseph Murphy snr in Guernsey, and more than a year of preliminary investigations after the tribunal was established in November 1997.

The chairman, Mr Justice Flood, has adjourned the tribunal until January 18th, when the long-running hearings into the allegations made by former building company executive Mr James Gogarty will resume. Mr Justice Flood hopes to wrap up these hearings within a fortnight.

The tribunal then plans to make a statement on its work so far, and on its future direction. Further modules of the tribunal will then probe other allegations, including those made by the Luton-based property developer, Mr Tom Gilmartin.

The total expenditure to date comprises £380,341.70 in pay costs and £5,184,500.97 in non-pay costs. However, the latter figure includes £2,707,990.01 in respect of legal fees.

Expenditure to date in 1999 amounts to £2,803,253.33. A further £2 million was allocated to the tribunal in the recent budget.

The fees paid to individual lawyers on the tribunal team are as follows (dates in brackets indicate the period for which the payments apply): Mr Patrick Hanratty SC, £565,626.88 (week ending December 12th 1997-December 3rd 1999); Mr John Gallagher SC, £555,899.73 (December 12th 1997-November 26th 1999); Mr Desmond O'Neill SC, £389,697.50 (July 24th 1998-December 3rd 1999); Mr Felix McEnroy SC, £403,277.50 (December 12th 1997-July 30th 1999; Ms Patricia Dillon SC , £246,099.30 (July 24th 1998-October 15th 1999); Ms Eunice O'Raw, £250,842 (July 20th 1998-December 3rd 1999); Ms Mairead Coughlan, £144,839.10 (December 12th 1997-October 15th 1999); Ms Maire Anne Ho ward, solicitor, £151,708 (March 2nd 1998-November 22nd 1999).

The total of £2,707,990.01 includes 21 per cent VAT; 24 per cent withholding tax has been deducted.