THE REVENUE Commissioners have spent more than €8.65 million on legal fees for barristers since 2006 – with one counsel alone earning €1.23 million in that period, according to newly released figures.
Senior counsel Gráinne Clohessy earned €91,000 from Revenue work in 2006, €133,000 in 2007 and €289,000 in 2008. In 2009, her fees amounted to €239,000, while she earned €339,000 in 2010 and €143,000 last year.
None of the legal services purchased from barristers by Revenue was the subject of tenders as, it says, the use of a competitive tendering process is “not feasible”.
Revenue employs an in-house solicitor who engages external barristers to work on individual tax cases where the tax collector is challenging an assessment, or its assessment is being challenged.
Other barristers with high earnings from Revenue work include Ciarán Ramsey (€718,000 since 2006), Mark O’Mahony (€674,000), Anthony M Collins SC (€648,000) and Anthony Aston SC (€534,000).
It also spends substantial sums on debt collection and recovery, with the legal support divided among seven solicitors’ firms which successfully tendered for the work.
The biggest-earning firm carrying out this work is Ivor Fitzpatrick Co, which had fee income of about €1 million from Revenue in each of the past three years.
The figures were provided by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in response to a parliamentary question in the Dáil from Labour TD Anne Ferris last month.
Ms Ferris is campaigning for the introduction of competitive tendering on a statutory basis for the estimated €500 million the State spends on lawyers each year.
In his reply, Mr Noonan also disclosed that the State’s biggest legal practice, Arthur Cox, had received fee income totalling €13.27 million since 2008. The money was paid for legal advice provided on the bank guarantee scheme and the work was not put out to tender, according to Mr Noonan.
The sums paid to Arthur Cox were €1.63 million in 2008, €5.86 million in 2009, €4.8 million in 2010 and €963,000 last year.
Figures disclosed to Ms Ferris by Minister for Health James Reilly show that barrister Diarmuid O’Donovan was paid €485,000 between 2007 and 2009 in respect of his work as chairman of the commission which investigated Leas Cross nursing home.
Separately, Mr Noonan has told the Dáil that the top-100 income earners declared €585 million in income and paid €169 million in income tax in 2009, the latest year for which data is available.