Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Taoiseach the hourly rate paid for fees due to barristers who provided counsel at junior and senior level, respectively, for the Office of the State Solicitor and for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21628/11]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am informed that given the very varied nature and complexity of the work undertaken, counsel is not paid an hourly rate by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. Measurement of counsel's fees is governed by the nature and extent of the work done by counsel and the features of each particular case. The factors taken into account in assessing counsel's fee include:

- The amount of time likely to have been reasonably spent on the work

- The number of documents perused and their importance and technicality

- The specialist knowledge and skill of counsel

- The complexity of the work undertaken

- The difficulty or novelty of the questions involved

- The value of the claim and its importance

- The responsibility involved

- The place and circumstances where the work is performed

- Whether there is any overlap with other work performed by counsel which reduces the work that would otherwise have been necessary

- The performance of counsel.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which is involved only in criminal cases, does not pay barristers an hourly rate either, but rather uses a range of standard fees. The principal categories of fees, covering 95% of the fees paid, are brief fees, refresher fees, sentence fees and bail fees. The brief fee is payable for the first day of a trial or, if the case does not go to trial, the day the defendant pleads guilty. It covers both the work involved in preparing the case for trial and the appearance on the day in question. The current brief fee for junior counsel in the Circuit Court is €1,272. The brief fee paid to junior counsel in the Central Criminal Court is €4,225 in rape cases and €5,280 in murder cases.

A refresher fee is payable for the second and subsequent days of a trial. The current refresher fee for junior counsel in the Circuit Court is €636. The refresher fee paid to junior counsel in the Central Criminal Court is €1,157.

A sentence fee is paid for hearings that deal with the passing of sentence. There may be more than one such hearing in a case. The current sentence fee for junior counsel is €274.

A bail fee is payable for hearings where the defendant applies for bail and the matter is contested. The current bail fee for junior counsel is €196.

Where cases are heard in the Central Criminal Court, a senior counsel will also usually be appointed. On occasion, a senior counsel may be appointed to deal with a particularly complex case in the Circuit Court. The fees paid to senior counsel are one-and-a-half times the junior counsel rate.