Lawyers who act for the Justice for the Forgotten group have been paid almost €700,000 by the State for their work on the Barron inquiry.
The fees were paid to the lawyers, who have been retained by the victims and relatives of those who died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974, for investigative work carried out on behalf of Mr Justice Barron.
Figures released by the Department of the Taoiseach reveal that the total cost of the Barron inquiry to date is almost €2.6 million. As well as the legal fees, the Justice for the Forgotten group has also been paid €167,000 for its administrative expenses.
A further €500,000 has been paid to it to fund services provided to the victims and relatives.
The three-year Barron inquiry did not take the form of other tribunals of inquiry. Instead, Mr Justice Barron conducted private interviews with those people he believed could aid the inquiry. These included, among others, expert witnesses, members of the 1974 government, victims of the atrocity and those who witnessed the bombings. One Justice for the Forgotten source said that its lawyers undertook investigative work on behalf of Mr Justice Barron which was agreed with the inquiry and had taken place over agreed blocks of time. The lawyers were paid a daily rate for their work, but this was lower than that paid to legal representatives on other inquiries, the source said.
The Dublin firm Brophy Solicitors has been retained by the victims group along with Mr Cormac O'Dulachain SC. The Justice for the Forgotten lawyers are also currently in negotiations with the State about fees for work carried out at the inquests of those who died.
The inquests were reopened last year. An April 27th start date for the substantive hearings to begin was set 10 days ago by the Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell. The inquests are expected to be concluded before the 30th anniversary of the bombings on May 17th.
The lawyers will also be paid for work at a hearing currently under way before an Oireachtas sub-committee on justice, which will report back to the Government in March on whether it believes a public tribunal of inquiry should be established to investigate the events of 1974.
Mr Justice Barron will appear before the hearing this morning. He is expected to be asked to respond to criticism of his report from earlier witnesses, including former Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald and former justice minister Mr Patrick Cooney.
