Beef tribunal legal bills cost the taxpayer almost £17m

Beef tribunal legal bills have already cost the taxpayer almost £17 million. The Department of Agriculture is still paying fresh legal bills six years after the tribunal ended and up to £4 million more in claims is in dispute. The latest recipients of legal costs include seven managers of the Goodman-owned Anglo-Irish Beef Processors plant at Rathkeale, Co Limerick, who were awarded £125,775.89 last month. Two of the former executives, Mr Sean Goodwin and Mr Anthony Butler, were given six-year suspended sentences in 1997 for their roles in a £900,000 intervention beef fraud.

Also last month, Mr Liam Marks, of Daltina Traders, subcontractor to the Goodman Group, was awarded legal costs of £158,297.56. Mr Marks gave evidence at the tribunal on January 28th and January 29th, 1992.

The previous month, solicitors for the former Fianna Fail minister, Mr Michael O'Kennedy, received £56,111.18 in respect of his legal costs, according to the Department. These awards are made by the Taxing Master of the High Court, Master James Flynn.

In the Dail in December 1996, Mr O'Kennedy criticised the cost of the tribunal, predicting it would reach £100 million and could determine whether or not Ireland qualified for membership of European Monetary Union.

The five largest awards for legal costs are still under appeal. These include awards to: Larry Goodman; Goodman International; Mr Pat Rabbitte TD and Mr Tomas MacGiolla, then both of the Workers' Party; Mr Des O'Malley TD of the Progressive Democrats; and Mr Dick Spring and Mr Barry Desmond of the Labour Party. Mr Goodman sought, and was awarded, by far the largest sum. He claimed £7.088 million in legal costs and was awarded £6.144 million. Almost £4 million of this has been paid, leaving an outstanding sum of £2.15 million. The State has appealed the Goodman award.

The other awards under appeal are: Goodman International, £1.656 million awarded; Mr Rabbitte and Mr MacGiolla, £1.361 million; Mr O'Malley, £850,000; Mr Spring and Mr Desmond, £797,000.

The total amount paid out in legal fees so far comes to £13.1 million. This includes £1.777 million for the legal fees of the State team, £1.865 million for the tribunal legal team, and £220,000 for lawyers representing the then Department of Tourism and Trade.

The tribunal, set up to investigate a series of allegations of malpractice in the beef processing industry, sat for 226 days between October 1991 and July 1993.