Senator Barry Ward
Yesterday.
Seanad Eireann, Dublin 2.
Fine Gael Senator and criminal barrister Barry Ward highlighted the stangnant fees and surprising day rate for those working in his day job.
Senator Ward said:
‘It is not a secret that I am a criminal barrister and I still work in that sphere and receive criminal legal aid payments but I am not issuing this request out of self-interest. There is a sustained campaign by criminal barristers to deal with this issue because it is a serious issue for those practising criminal law.
“There is a misconception out there that barristers all do very well and that they are all wealthy. It is a popular thing to say and certain media outlets love to refer to the Four Goldmines but that does not apply to criminal barristers.
“Crime does not pay in that sphere and we do not work in the Four Goldmines; we work in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Parkgate Street., and in district and circuit courts throughout Ireland.
“This affects every county and community because the reality is that the amounts available to be paid under the criminal legal aid scheme were slashed at the time of the financial crisis in this country by between 30% and 50%, depending on the nature of the payment. It was a significant reduction in the pay available to people practising in the area of crime.
“We should bear in mind that they were already the worst-paid lawyers in the system, including solicitors, and then their pay was cut by that amount. Everybody took that pain at the time that it was necessary during the financial crisis and they dealt with it.
Civil servants, healthcare workers and people providing professional services also took that cut; it was across the board. Yet here we are ten, 11 and 12 years later and the only people for whom pay has not been reinstated is those practising in criminal law, including solicitors and barristers. Their fees remain at the level they were cut to after the financial emergency.
Senator Ward added:
“To put this matter in context, if a barrister appears in a District Court for a case then he or she is paid a rate of €25.20 for the privilege plus VAT for however long he or she works that day. It is also a reality that he or she will also have to wait for the solicitor to receive his or her payment before the split fee is passed to the barrister.”
Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Ossian Smyth replied:
‘Based on data put forward by the Bar Council of Ireland to date, there does not appear to be any compelling evidence that the reduction in fees since 2009 has led to significant recruitment or retention issues or to a shortage of counsel prepared to do criminal work to the extent that the operation of the criminal justice system is significantly hampered.’
Anyone?
Could not agree more
Ossian Smyth should recuse himself from any judiciary decision processes.
Pray tell why….
Do you have iNfOrMaTiOnN that he is hiding in a hole in the ground somewhere?
Do tell oh I-have-my-finger-on-the-pulse man of wisdom
*sniggers again*
Maybe he might work for us cleaning the kitchen
Self serving clones of pee Flynn
And ever wonder why the average cost for a client to have their case heard in the high court is a cool €100 grand hence why insurance is so high and most cases settled on the steps of the court to avoid those fees
Like all professions one must do ones time before you can charge fees that would stun Putin
Poor dear should’ve got a job in banking.
Instead of been one that starts with a w
Of course, Barry Ward knows all too well the pressures facing many in his position to supplement their income in any way they can
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ethics-watchdog-ends-councillors-college-course-perk-28814543.html
Andrew, do you think that might point to why Mr Ward is in politics?
Providing free legal aid to the lowest common denominator of criminal is presumably the bottom rung of the ladder and not something one should make a career of – perhaps one might do it part time out of a sense of duty.
Now, I can see how a senator doing their other career on the side might want want improved pay rates for side work they do because their political career doesn’t allow them to work on more complex long running work.
Junior doctor starts at about 30 euro an hour, despite having been through 6-7 years of college and a number of years of post training.
It’s up to a barrister to progress their training and get private work, it’s not incumbent upon the state to pay private sector rates for day-jobbing barristers on criminal work.
Diddums, Mr Ward.
He’s a part of a rotten corrupt industry which systemically churns career criminals back into society so they can re-offend endlessly, an industry needs customers after all, don’t worry about the victims, they’ll be grand, or not, but who cares as long as everyone gets paid! Starts to get awkward when they have over 150 convictions but sure bring out the old reliables ‘disadvantaged upbringing’, ‘in treatment for addiction’, ‘recently lost a beloved relative’, ‘wrote a letter of apology’ etc etc and get them back out there ruining people’s lives so you can earn a crust, bravo Mr Ward, keep up the good work.
Now where did I leave me tiny violin
I’m bawling crying – my fart goes out to him :(