DPP paid barristers and solicitors €24m last year

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) paid barristers and solicitors more than €24m for work in the criminal courts last year.

According to details released under the Freedom of Information Act, the average amount each lawyer got was over €163k.

The DPP employs barristers to prosecute on its behalf in various criminal courts.

It has in-house solicitors who work on cases in Dublin, but state solicitors in private practice are contracted to represent the DPP outside the capital.

Last year, a total of just over €24m was paid to both barristers and solicitors.

114 junior and senior counsel got €16.8m, including VAT.

One barrister got nearly €330k, while five others got more than €200k.

But senior counsel Seamus Clarke, from the Bar Council, says the figures don't tell the whole story.

"They don't paint a complete picture," he said.

It's a gross figure and doesn't include the number of expenditures that barristers have, such as running their practice, office rent, secretary support, membership of the law library fees, and they don't reflect the complexity of cases.

"We have a lot more complex cases coming through the courts and, indeed, they don't reflect the number of cases a particular barrister might have."

The total paid to 33 state solicitors in 2019 was €7.2m - with one getting over half a million euro.

The total combined figures for barristers and state solicitors are down marginally on the previous year.