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Gov't senator links employee practice review to exodus from AG Dept
Balford Henry
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
GOVERNMENT Senator Tom Tavares Finson says there is an obvious correlation between recent departures from the Attorney General's Department and the current review of the practice of employees collecting payments for work done for Government agencies.
On Friday, Senator Tavares Finson said that the Government lawyers were charging fees equivalent to those charged by lawyers in private practice to do Government work and were being paid with taxpayers' money.
"This practice has attracted the attention of the Attorney General who has ordered her own review of the practice," said Tavares Finson, the Deputy President of the Senate.
"In 2006/2007, a total of $40.9 million was collected by a few enterprising senior lawyers (at the AG's Department). For the most part, this was taxpayers' money," he said.
"I emphasise that this money was shared by a few lawyers and, while I have no intention of calling any names, let me say that there seems to me to be an obvious correlation between the recent departures and the beneficiaries of this largesse," he added.
He said that the review of the earning capacity of senior Government lawyers, as well as the attorney general's decision to review employment practices in the department were at the root of the tensions within the department.
"Efforts to blame resignations on the management style of the attorney general are groundless. Senator Dorothy Lightbourne is a part of the solution, not a part of the problem," Tavares Finson said.
A policy has existed in the AG's Department for several years in which lawyers employed to the department have been charging fees for work done for Government agencies and companies, despite being employed by the Government.
Reports are that the policy was effected in 2001 and stated that 20 per cent of the fees should go to training staff in the department and the rest to the lawyers. However, the current minister has confirmed that she will have the matter reviewed.
Balford Henry
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
GOVERNMENT Senator Tom Tavares Finson says there is an obvious correlation between recent departures from the Attorney General's Department and the current review of the practice of employees collecting payments for work done for Government agencies.
On Friday, Senator Tavares Finson said that the Government lawyers were charging fees equivalent to those charged by lawyers in private practice to do Government work and were being paid with taxpayers' money.
"This practice has attracted the attention of the Attorney General who has ordered her own review of the practice," said Tavares Finson, the Deputy President of the Senate.
"In 2006/2007, a total of $40.9 million was collected by a few enterprising senior lawyers (at the AG's Department). For the most part, this was taxpayers' money," he said.
"I emphasise that this money was shared by a few lawyers and, while I have no intention of calling any names, let me say that there seems to me to be an obvious correlation between the recent departures and the beneficiaries of this largesse," he added.
He said that the review of the earning capacity of senior Government lawyers, as well as the attorney general's decision to review employment practices in the department were at the root of the tensions within the department.
"Efforts to blame resignations on the management style of the attorney general are groundless. Senator Dorothy Lightbourne is a part of the solution, not a part of the problem," Tavares Finson said.
A policy has existed in the AG's Department for several years in which lawyers employed to the department have been charging fees for work done for Government agencies and companies, despite being employed by the Government.
Reports are that the policy was effected in 2001 and stated that 20 per cent of the fees should go to training staff in the department and the rest to the lawyers. However, the current minister has confirmed that she will have the matter reviewed.
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