Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, duine atá mar chomharsa liom i nDún Laoghaire. D'fhreastail mé ar an gComhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire–Ráth an Dúin leis an Aire Stáit freisin. Go háirithe sa chás sin, cuirim fáilte roimhe.

I welcome the Bill. It is tremendously important as we return to some form of normality. After the cuts under the FEMPI legislation, it is only appropriate that we restore the pay. I absolutely endorse the comments made by Members on the need to recognise the good work done by the public service. It is so easy, in the media and public opinion, to do down the public service, including the Civil Service, and to disregard their work. It is so easy to forget that, without them, the country does not run and the systems do not function.The needed services we receive throughout this country, be they in the health service or An Garda Síochána, and the services offered by Civil Service officials do not happen without the hard work done by the members of the public service. It is entirely appropriate that we recognise that.

I am going to raise a branch of the public service that is so often forgotten because those concerned are not employed directly by the State. They are self-employed people, namely, barristers, particularly barristers who work for the State and barristers who work as part of the criminal justice system. I am a criminal barrister and have worked for quite a long time as part of that system. Therefore, I do not deny that there is no self-interest in my comments. Setting that aside, however, I am aware that the Chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Ms Maura McNally, SC, has been in the media quite a lot recently raising this issue because it is an important one. The problem has reached crisis point. Approximately 250 barristers work in the area of criminal law in Dublin and throughout the rest of the country. They are specialists in this area but they are self-employed. They operate through the criminal legal aid system, which is what pays them for the work they do. From the State's perspective, they offer a huge package that offers great value for money because it does not have to pay them or look after them as it must do with employees. It does not have to pay holiday pay, sick pay or maternity pay. The barristers do not enjoy any of the other rights that ordinary employees of the State benefit from, particularly in the public service. It is, of course, correct that those rights exist but an external consultant or contractor to the State gets none of the benefits. With regard to the criminal Bar, the State benefits from a couple of hundred people whose work is extremely specialised and who have spent a lot of their own money qualifying. They have survived in very difficult times to get to the point they are at and to provide their service, which is tremendously important because it allows the criminal justice system to work and allows us to comply with our obligations under international law. The way they have been treated by the State is quite appalling. Criminal barristers' levels of pay are the same as they were in 2002. They comprise the only group of which I am aware that has received no restitution or reinstatement whatsoever of the fees they were paid before the crash. Under the FEMPI legislation, depending on the category one is talking about, cuts may be of up to 70% of the pay that would have been received from the State.

There is a very popular misconception that barristers are at the top end of pay scales and all the rest of it. That is definitely not true. The maxim that crime does not pay certainly applies to criminal barristers. The figure that has been mentioned for junior barristers appearing in the District Court, for example, is €25 per day. That is what we are talking about. They have never had their fees reinstated. It is appropriate, although barristers are not covered by this Bill, which cannot help them, that we remember that there are still individuals who are de factopublic servants. Even though they are self-employed, they are serving us all as a public and serving the State. They are forgotten by the Government in terms of the reinstatement of their pay. It is appropriate to raise that. I ask the Minister of State to bear it in mind.