Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

With regard to costs, is it not the case that the Taoiseach approved and the Attorney General recommended a doubling of fees for solicitors and researchers and that after 2002 the Taoiseach approved an increase of €800 per diem for lawyers at tribunals, including the one under discussion? Does he not agree it is the height of humbug that he and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform are cooking up a storm and a controversy about the fees associated with these tribunals when he as Taoiseach approved them and the Minister, Deputy McDowell, who is leading the storm, facilitated some of the increases while he was Attorney General?

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