Mr. Barry Donoghue:

On the first day of an ordinary case, counsel is paid a brief fee, representing the first day on the case and the preparatory work that must be put in. The standard fee for a murder case is just over €7,000 for senior counsel. That would involve all the preparation work that counsel would have to put into that case and the first day of the case. With respect to value for money, those fees have been cut heavily as part of the general cutting of fees. They were reduced on two occasions by 8%. An additional 10% was taken off those fees across the board in 2011. The Bar Council has made a reasonable case that the 10% cut was not reflected in other cuts to professional fees and so forth. The fees have been cut back quite a bit. The increase in fees reflects the throughput of cases in the courts because of more court sittings and more cases being processed.