Ms Nuala Egan:

I will respond first by saying that we prioritise issues of domestic violence, but I hear the Deputy's concerns. To the extent that I talk about a comparator and us comparing unfavourably with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chief State Solicitor's Office, the reality is that the payment structure is quite nuanced. We have grade 3 solicitors, who are at entry level, as well as grade 2 and grade 1 solicitors, who are managing solicitors. Within each grade there are scales. I can clarify this for the Deputy and come back to him if he would more information but my understanding is that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chief State Solicitor's Office have greater flexibility to start at a higher scale within a grade. That can lead to a differential of thousands of euro over the course of a year which, in the context of a salary considerably lower than that which a private solicitor would get, is a big difference.