Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of fees for barristers in criminal defence cases. I recognise that when people hear this there is little enough sympathy for barristers. There is a misperception abroad that barristers are all very well paid. This is true of some of them. Those who engage in criminal defence work are paid through the legal aid scheme at the very bottom of the scale. To give people the context of what this means, a young barrister can travel across the country to appear at a sitting of the District Court and the fee is €25.20 plus VAT. People should be disabused of the notion that criminal barristers are well paid.

There is a saying at the Bar that crime does not pay. It applies as equally to barristers as it does to those accused of crimes. The Deputy Leader and I have been in the courts together in Castlebar. She understands where I am coming from. This issue has been raised in The Irish Timestoday. There is a looming problem with the fact that fees for barristers have not been restored. Depending on where people are on the scale, the fees were cut by a great deal and certainly over 30% for the vast majority of people. That fee level has never been restored.The result is that people are fleeing criminal law. There may well be people watching this thinking that does not really matter because they are only looking after criminals but they allow the system to function; without them it would not function. We know the difficulties created by delays and other problems in the criminal justice system. The barristers working in that system, as well as the solicitors working in the system, require payment for their work because otherwise they will not do it. They will work in other spheres and the system will cease to function, bringing more delays for victims and witnesses and in matters being finalised. The time has come now for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, to take the step of restoring pay for criminal legal aid for solicitors and barristers so the system can function as it was intended to.