According to the 2023 annual report of the DPP, fees paid to senior counsel and junior counsel to prosecute cases in the criminal courts across the country last year increased by €4m or 20pc from €20.07m to €24.11m
According to the 2023 annual report of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), fees paid to senior counsel and junior counsel to prosecute cases in the criminal courts across the country last year increased by €4m or 20pc from €20.07m to €24.11m.
The report states that overall, fees to counsel by the DPP have increased by 41pc or €6.9m from €17.14m in 2021 to €24.11m in 2023.
The report states that despite the increase to the DPP annual gross budget for 2023, the office had to seek an additional €4.5m from Government in November 2023 to fund the office’s activities for last year.
The report states that there were a number of factors which gave rise to this, “but primarily it was due to demand led pressures on expenditure on counsel fees which is to a large extent dependent on the level of activity in the courts at any time”.
The report states that “there was a general increase in the number of indictable prosecutions directed across all courts in 2023, and a significant increase in activity in the Central Criminal Court where the number of judges assigned increased from five to twelve in recent years. This resulted in a significant increase in court sittings, trials and lists to be supported by our Office.”
The overall spend by the Office of the DPP, Catherine Pierse, last year increased by €8.49m or 17pc from €50.04m to €58.54m – fees paid to counsel accounted for 41pc of the DPP’s overall spend with salaries for staff totalling €19.6m or 34pc of the overall outlay.
One of the DPP’s most high profile murder cases last year resulted in the successful conviction of Jozef Puska (33) for the January 2022 murder of 23-year-old school teacher Ashling Murphy on day 18 of his trial at the Central Criminal Court last November.
In another case, DPP barristers secured the conviction of Stephen Silver (47) in March 2023 for the capital murder of Garda Colm Horkan (49) in June 2020 at the end of a second trial.
The first trial ended in November 2022 when the jury could not agree on a verdict.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the DPP has confirmed that the DPP’s legal fees for the two trials across 2022 and 2023 total €502,082 (incl VAT).
The office of the DPP confirmed that senior counsel received a ‘brief fee’ of €18,450 and received a daily fee of €2,460 for the capital murder trial with junior counsel receiving a brief fee of €12,300 and a daily fee of €1,639.
In April of last year, Gerry Hutch was found not guilty at the Special Criminal Court for the murder of David Byrne at Dublin’s Regency Hotel in February 2016.
The trial of Mr Hutch ran for 52 days before the court reserved judgment on January 26th 2023.
In a separate FOI response, the DPP confirmed that its legal fees concerning the Gerry Hutch trial totalled €433,264 (incl VAT).
Three counsel were employed by DPP for the trial and the DPP has confirmed that the brief fee for two senior counsel was €24,600 each and a daily fee of €2,460 each. A junior counsel received a brief fee of €16,399 and a daily fee of €1,639.
The DPP annual report states that “fees paid to counsel in the Circuit, Central and Special Criminal Courts cover advising on proofs, drafting indictments, holding consultations, arraignments, presentation of the case and other necessary appearances, for example, for sentence”.
The largest proportion of counsel fees arose from work in the circuit court at €10.69m or 44pc last year with Central Criminal Court work accounting for €8.7m in fees to counsel.
DPP counsel received fees of €1.29m for work in the Court of Appeal and fees of €981,572 in the Special Criminal Court.
The report shows that fees paid to counsel in Dublin Circuit Court accounted for 50pc or €5.32m of fees to DPP barristers in the circuit courts last year.
