Barristers have been accused of "picking over the bones" of the taxpayer by Socialist TD Joe Higgins at a Dáil committee meeting.
The Public Accounts Committee meeting had heard that a case involving the storage of tallow had cost the Department of Agriculture and the taxpayer €6. 5 million.
The secretary general of the department, Tom Moran, said the extremely complex case involving the storage of the tallow was settled after 46 days in the High Court.
The State's legal costs had been €925,000 and the department had to pay the plaintiff's costs of €2.75 million in addition to settling the case for €3.75 million.
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Mr Higgins said: "I see no reason why the plaintiffs costs should not be the same as those charged by the State."