The Minister for Finance is refusing to relent in his opposition to higher fees demanded by counsel for the tribunal into alleged planning abuses. Counsel are, according to Mr McCreevy, "refusing to start work until higher fees are agreed". A spokeswoman for the Minister last night said: "He will not back down and there will be no further negotiations about fees as this is his final offer."
The sole member of the Planning Tribunal, Mr Justice Fergus Flood, told the Dail last week that the appointment of a legal team has not been the principal reason for the delay in the commencement of work.
However, according to Mr McCreevy, the row over fees is "the only issue" holding up the work of the tribunal, which is not now likely to sit before March. The Minister and the Attorney General, Mr David Byrne, have been in negotiations over legal fees as it is the Department of Finance that sanctions fees for judicial investigations.
Counsel for the Planning Tribunal originally sought a flat rate of £2,100 per day, for sitting and non-sitting days.
This represented an increase of 50 per cent, per sitting day, over the fees paid in the Dunnes Payments Tribunal and an increase of more than 100 per cent for non-sitting days. The fees being demanded by counsel in the Flood inquiry would, the Minister indicated, also have been substantially higher than the fees paid in the Beef Tribunal - £1,890 per sitting day and just over £1,000 for non-sitting days.
These had been "a source of public outrage" at the time.
The Minister's spokeswoman said that, in the last week, counsel had "amended their demand" and were now seeking £1,500 per day, whether the tribunal was sitting or not.
Apart from the payment for non-sitting days, it is understood that Mr McCreevy proposes paying counsel on the same basis as remuneration to lawyers in the McCracken Tribunal - £1,450 for the first 30 days; £1,400 for the subsequent 20 days and £1,350 thereafter. Fees were put at £1,000 for non-sitting days.