Results 26,841-26,860 of 34,956 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Donoghue is saying the figures for 2016 are for cases just at the end of 2016, even though some of them might have been successfully convicted in 2017.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Has Mr. Donoghue a figure, then, for cases concluded in each of the years? That is probably the rate we are really interested in - not cases that commenced, but cases that concluded. People are more interested in the outcome of a court case, not day one of the case.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: None of those figures would indicate a figure of anything like that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: This is Mr. Donoghue's annual report. I ask him to explain it to me.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. Donoghue come back and give a reconciliation between that figure and this chart?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: That chart does not give me a figure of anything like that. That is all I am saying.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: The fees paid to counsel are on page 51, which have been discussed. Almost half the figure, 47%, is for Circuit Court work.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Would that be the standard rule of thumb?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: I see from page 62 that 60% of that would be in the Dublin District Court.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Quite a proportion of the legal fees paid by Mr. Donoghue's office would be at Circuit Court level in the Dublin region.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: I have a simple question, although I do not know if the answer will be simple. What is the office's success rate in the courts? Is the conviction rate 94%? Is that at District Court level? Will Mr. Donoghue give us a breakdown of the office's success rate in the District Court, Circuit Court and so on? The office must have statistics on that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: In terms of the volume of cases going before the courts, Mr. Donoghue said 200,000 cases go before the District Court each year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Approximately how many cases go before all the other courts?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: What is the approximate figure?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is referred on day one.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: We are interested in outcomes, not of individual cases but the office's overall success rate. I know everything starts in the District Court. I presume the office's success rate is quite high.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: That is on page 7.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: The mission statement.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: Can Mr. Donoghue give us a breakdown of that in terms of the different courts?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Seán Fleming: How did Mr. Donoghue arrive at an overall conviction rate of 94% given that he said a few minutes ago that he does not have figures for what happens in the District Court?