Almost €25m in fees paid by DPP to barristers and State solicitors for criminal prosecution work last year

Almost €25 million in fees were paid by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to barristers and State solicitors for criminal prosecution work last year. More than €14 million in fees were paid for the first six months of this year.

The highest fee paid in 2021 was some €524,000 to a State solicitor and the second highest fee, also paid to a State solicitor, was €410,185.

While the top earning barrister in 2021, a senior counsel, was paid more than €316,000, followed closely by a junior counsel, who received almost €315,000, more than a third of counsel who did work for the DPP were paid less than €40,000.

The payment details were disclosed to The Irish Times on foot of a Freedom of Information Act request. When the names of the barristers and solicitors involved were also sought, the FOI decisionmaker in the DPP’s office said that information would be refused under section 37.1 of the Act, which provides a decisionmaker can refuse disclosure if they consider that would involve “personal information”.

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The decisionmaker said he “is mindful of the office of the DPP’s obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation”.

Of 173 barristers who received payments from the DPP’s office for prosecution work in the criminal courts in 2021, 66 were each paid more than €100,000, including 24 who each received more than €150,000.

At the opposite end of the scale, 52 barristers were each paid less than €40,000 in 2021, including 41 who received less than €20,000. The lowest payment was €572 to a junior counsel.

More than €7.6 million was paid to State solicitors, representing sums agreed by contract with State solicitors to represent the DPP in courts outside Dublin. The highest individual fee was of €523,719 and the lowest was €42,419. Most, 21 of the 34 State solicitors who received payments, were paid more than €200,000.

The total sums paid by the DPP to 166 counsel – 39 senior and 127 junior – for representing it from January to the end of June 2022 was some €10,084 million. Nine senior counsel have received more than €100,000 each so far this year, with the highest earning senior counsel paid €209,433 to date.

The highest earning junior counsel has received €171,312 and 20 junior counsel have secured more than €100,000 each. Of the total 166 counsel, 79 – 64 junior and 15 senior – were paid less than €40,000 each so far this year.

The total fees paid to State solicitors for the first six months of this year is some €4.08 million. The highest fee so far is €263,058 and the lowest is €3,908. Of 34 State solicitors, 22 have received sums in excess of €100,000 to date.

Criminal legal aid barristers have been seeking restoration of legal aid fees after cuts ranging from 28.5 per cent to 69 per cent were imposed as part of emergency cuts to public service pay following the financial crisis of 2008.

Their complaints include that fees paid to criminal barristers in the District Courts remain the same as in 2002 and can be as little as €25 per day while State solicitors who work on the same cases being prosecuted by barristers have had pay restoration.

In response to a petition signed by 270 barristers and correspondence concerning pay and other issues in the criminal justice system, a letter on behalf of the Minister for Justice was sent this week to barrister Darren Lalor, one of the campaign organisers.

While noting that responsibility for pay restoration matters rests with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Law Reform, the letter said the Department of Justice has “actively engaged” with all stakeholders, including the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, on the pay issue.

The Department of Justice is responsible for payment of criminal legal aid fees to defence counsel while barristers instructed by the State to prosecute in criminal cases are paid by the DPP, who is independent in the remit of her functions, it noted.

The department appreciates the importance of the pay issue and understands it is “under consideration” by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and will be examined further in the context of wider public pay policy and expenditure implications, it said.

In response to the barristers’ call for a fee-claiming mechanism, the letter said this was “primarily a matter for the Courts Service” and reiterated that the department is working with the courts and judiciary on introduction of a series of reforms to improve access to justice.