181 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance the details of each of the increases in the fees paid to solicitors and barristers which have been sanctioned or approved by him since 1997; his views on whether the proposal from Fine Gael to introduce a competitive tendering process for lawyers will have a beneficial effect in reducing the costs; if he has proposals in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20775/04]

Fees payable to legal personnel acting on behalf of the State in tribunals of inquiry are subject to my sanction after obtaining the advice of the Attorney General and the views of the sponsoring Department of the respective tribunal. There have been no increases in per diem rates for counsel in ongoing tribunals of inquiry since July 2002. The increase in 2002 was the only increase since the establishment of the Flood and Moriarty tribunals — see table below.

I have a number of proposals under consideration aimed at reducing the legal costs of tribunals and other forms of inquiry. I am liaising with the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in this regard. These proposals will require the approval of Government and I am not therefore at liberty at this juncture to go into individual detail of these proposals but broadly they are aimed at addressing a number of issues including the following; review of basis of payment for legal representatives; tightening and better focusing of the terms of reference of future tribunals with a view to minimising duration and costs and, streamlining the operation of tribunals.

I understand that recent legislation introduced by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform provides for competitive tendering in this area.

The original 1997 per diem rates were:

Refresher fees categorised as follows:

*** first 30 days

*** Next 20 days

*** Remainder.