Experienced lawyers sidelined during Lands Authority transformation - PN MP

The creation of the new Lands Authority saw experienced and capable lawyers sidelined while the government dished out direct orders for the work they had previously carried out, Opposition MP Ryan Callus said on Monday.Mr Callus, who is the Opposition’s representative on the Lands Authority board, said in a debate on Parliament on Monday he would not vote in favour of the authority’s estimates because of an “exaggerated” €1.2 million in legal and professional fees, for which no detailed breakdown was forthcoming.This cost to the Authority - which had registered losses of €750,000 during its first year of operation - was the result of “damage” done during the Lands Department’s metamorphosis into the new authority. Mr Callus expressed his view that the Government had seen the transition as an opportunity to issue direct orders for work previously carried out by lawyers with years of experience who had been sidelined in the process. As a result, he had not been prepared to endorse a document when he was not sure exactly what he would have been endorsing, he stated.Opening the debate, Ian Borg, the minister responsible for lands, said Labour’s decision to constitute a new authority...