Mr. Simon Donagh:

I agree with what Mr. Guerin and Ms Phelan have said. The only thing I might throw into the mix on that point is the way the legal aid scheme works in the District Court for barristers who practise there. They get paid in one of two ways. There is a procedure, since the Supreme Court decided a case called Carmody v. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Others, whereby if a case is sufficiently serious to warrant a solicitor and barrister, an application can be made and the presiding judge will make a decision as to whether the case is that complex. That happens in by no means all cases. It is quite exceptional. The other way it works is that the fees a solicitor gets for the day are apportioned in an ad hoc, casual arrangement between barristers and solicitors. The refresher fee in the District Court for a solicitor, for example, is €50.40. We can all do the maths. Half of that is not much. I cannot speak on behalf of the solicitors' profession but if that arrangement stays in place and barristers get half of what they get, restoration of their fees would address the issue. It is, of course, for solicitors to make that case. It is a similar issue insofar as their fees were also cut.