Cost of criminal legal aid up 38.5% last year

Barristers and solicitors last year received €37 million through the criminal legal aid scheme, a rise of 38.5 per cent on the €26.7 million they received in 2004.

Figures released by the Department of Justice in response to a Freedom of Information request show that solicitors received €21.47 million last year, an increase of 41 per cent on the €15.13 million received in 2004.

A total of €15.49 million was paid to 411 barristers, an increase of 33 per cent on the 2004 figure of €11.574 million.

The figures show that Brendan Grehan SC received the highest amount among barristers at €374,537. Mr Grehan led the defence team in the trial of Mayo farmer Padraig Nally who was convicted last year of the manslaughter of John Ward.

The €10.3 million rise in criminal legal aid payments over a year was yesterday described by Labour's Justice spokesman Joe Costello as "excessive".

"Garda statistics last year show that reported crime was up 2.7 per cent and detected crime down by 1 per cent, so it is hard to see how there could be a 38 per cent increase in legal aid payments as the number of criminal cases would be more or less the same," he said

Fine Gael's Justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said the rise in payments "is staggering". He said Justice Minister Michael McDowell "has questions to answer over the enormous increase".

The Department of Justice figures also show that €5.23 million was paid out in civil legal aid - including payments from the Refugee Legal Service - to barristers and solicitors last year.

The figures show 10 solicitors received over €500,000 through the criminal legal aid scheme last year. The highest earning solicitor, Dublin-based Michael J Staines, received €1.373 million. He was the only solicitor to receive over €1 million.

The highest earners under the civil legal aid scheme last year were Jane Barron, who received €87,161, Nuala Egan who received €84,247 and Grainne Lee who received €78,655.

Director general of the Law Society Ken Murphy said the figures attributed to solicitors in the list from the department "do not in any way represent the personal income of individual solicitors".

"In the great majority of cases, the payment would be to individual firms where there would be a number of solicitors involved, while office overheads, staff and IT costs would have to be paid before you can arrive at a gross income figure."