Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

We are talking about several tens of millions of euro which resulted from a Government decision to continue with the existing level of legal fees. However, over the Christmas, a parade of Ministers made out the levels of fees paid to the tribunals had nothing to do with them when they had agreed to keep them at that level.

My next question is on the recovery of some of the moneys paid out and some of it yet to be paid out when the third party costs come to be assessed. Some time ago, the Government promised legislation on corruption and to establish an agency similar to the Criminal Assets Bureau, the purpose of which was to recover the ill-gotten gains of people who had either been paid bribes or benefited from corrupt decisions. Is it still intended to introduce this legislation? Is it intended to recover moneys from those paid bribes? Are there any plans to recover from those who benefited from corrupt decisions, such as landowners who had land rezoned as a result of a corrupt decision of a local authority? Is there any intention to introduce legislation which will recover some of the gains these people made in order to defray the considerable cost incurred by the taxpayer in the inquiries into these matters?

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