Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

We enjoy parliamentary privilege and freedom of expression when we speak in this House. We should not deny those who do not have parliamentary privilege their right to freedom of expression.

My constituency colleague, Senator Twomey, commented on my motion, which relates to the extraordinary fees that are charged by barristers. I was told recently that a senior counsel sent someone a bill of €59,000 for reading a brief over a weekend, which is absolutely obscene. Many Senators will be aware of the case in question. I will not name the person involved. We need to tackle privilege. An article in one of yesterday's newspapers compared the remuneration of this country's university professors, lecturers and presidents with the remuneration of those in other countries. In one instance, a person was found to be earning 80% more than his or her counterpart in Britain. I remind the House that Ireland does not have a single university in the top 50 in the world. I put it to Senator Twomey that the Government is about to increase consultants' fees, thereby——