DPP told Howlin’s department it could make no budget cuts

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) told the Government it could not take part in last year's expenditure review as the mooted budget cuts were equivalent to half the total cost of prosecuting all murder and rape cases.

As part of its comprehensive spending review for 2015-2017, last summer the Department of Public Expenditure asked the DPP to identify savings of €1.9 million, or 5 per cent of its annual budget.

The DPP replied that, not only was there no room for further cuts, but that its expenditure was likely to increase over the next three years.

In a memo dated July 2014, the DPP’s office said it had no control over the amount of crime to be prosecuted and said the establishment of the Court of Appeal would lead to an increase in the total amount of fees paid to barristers.

Equivalent savings

The DPP said the savings target of €1.9 million was equivalent to 50 per cent of the cost of all Circuit Court prosecutions in Dublin, 50 per cent of the cost of prosecutions in the Central Criminal Court (where murder and rape cases are heard) or 80 per cent of the law costs awarded by the courts against the DPP’s office in a typical year.

“The director is statutorily bound to discharge her functions,” it stated. “She is not in a position to decide not to prosecute a class of crime, or crimes in a particular area of the State, in order to make the saving sought. Neither is the director in a position to decide not to pay costs ordered by the courts in order to meet the 5 per cent cut sought.”

Explaining why the office had not filled in a table of possible cuts as sought by the department, the DPP memo, released under the Freedom of Information Act, said “it would be inappropriate to complete the table as to do so could be interpreted as the director suggesting that these actions be taken”.

Of the DPP’s budget of €37.8 million in 2014, the largest proportion (34 per cent) was accounted for by pay, followed by fees to barristers (33 per cent) and the State solicitor service (18 per cent).

Long trials

The DPP said that its allocation for fees to barristers – €12.5 million in 2014 – was under “substantial pressure” unless there was a large unanticipated reduction in court hearings.

It argued that long financial trials, a number of which will take place over the coming years, would add significantly to its expenditure. The office expects financial trials to cost it €500,000 this year.

As the new Court of Appeal worked through the backlog of appeals that had built up at the apex of the courts system, the increase in court sittings would also have financial implications for the office.

The DPP told the department its fees to barristers had always been “very significantly lower” than fees paid in the open market and had been subject to “radical reductions” since the financial crisis.

It said the payment of an additional fee to barristers for a longer working day was stopped, while fee reductions had been imposed on three occasions – by 8 per cent in March 2009, 8 per cent in April 2010 and 10 per cent in October 2011.

“This office considers that any further reduction in the rate of fees it pays barristers would run a substantial risk of it not being able to retain top quality barristers for prosecution work,” it added.