Minister defends record barristers’ fees in FitzPatrick trial

Senior counsel for the prosecution and defence were paid €3,000 a day, over three times the standard rate of €858 a day for senior counsel in Circuit Court trials, The Irish Times reported earlier.

The senior barristers were paid a €40,000 brief fee to take the case, above the the normal brief fee of €1,716. The prosecution’s two junior counsel were paid brief fees of €26,400 and €16,000 respectively.

Responding to a written Dáil question, Mr Donohoe said: “My officials were advised by the DPP’s Office that the case was a difficult and complicated one involving a large number of offences covering an extended time frame coupled with voluminous documentation and involving novel points of law and was the first time section 197 had been prosecuted in the courts.

“In view of the difficulty and complexity of the case, as advised by the DPP, and the large volume of documentation, fees in excess of the standard Circuit Criminal Court prosecution fees were approved.”