PAYMENTS to barristers under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme last year cost the State more than £1.5 million. Four barristers earned over £80,000 and one over £100,000. The figures were given by the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, in the Dail yesterday.
Payments to solicitors under the scheme in 1995 cost £4.7 million. The highest-earning solicitor, Mr Michael Staines, earned £594,100. Eight solicitors earned over £100,000 in legal aid fees, according to figures released in February.
The highest-earning barrister under the scheme was Mr Luigi Rea, who earned £100,651.17 in 1995. The three barristers who earned over £80,000 were: Mr Patrick Marrinan (£89,197); Mr Brendan Grogan (£88,055); and Mr Blaise O'Carroll (£87,892).
Other high earners included Mr Anthony Sammon (£77,516); Mr Denis V. Buckley (£58,156); and Mr Rex Mackey (£56,965).
Some barristers earned under £100 from the legal aid scheme. Ms Mary Laverty earned only £48, while Mr Bruce Antoniotti earned £60.50. Mr Michael Fitzgibbon and Mr Barry Finlay both earned £155: Mr Cormac Clancy pipped them both by a mere £3 to take in £158.
The average earnings for barristers under the scheme were £7,361 - which means Mr Luigi Rea earned £93,289 above the average. Ms Mary Laverty, meanwhile, earned £7,313 less than the average. In fact, Ms Laverty earned less than one per cent of the average and 0.05 per cent of what Mr Luigi Rea earned.
Overall, almost 40 per cent of barristers earned less than £1,000 under the scheme while 12 barristers - or less than five per cent of all barristers paid under the scheme - earned over £30,000.
Yet that five per cent accounted for almost half of the total amount earned in 1995. The combined earnings under the scheme of the highest-earning barristers amounted to £768,473 or around 49 per cent of the total.
Interestingly, female barristers barely figure among the more prominent earners. Only four female barristers earned in excess of £10,000 under the scheme. They were Ms Marie Torrens, who earned £44,390.50 in 1995; Ms Aileen Donnelly (£24,022.81); Ms Isobel Kennedy (£21,952.65); and Ms Mary Ellen Ring (£16,192.96).