Hi °C | Lo °C Barrister Dominic McGinn SC, who successfully led last year's case against Heather Perrin for deception, was one of the best-paid prosecutors in the country in 2012.
According to new figures obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr McGinn was one of only three counsel to receive over €200,000 last year when he was paid €202,421 (including VAT) for prosecuting cases.
Senior counsel Tom O'Connell was the best-paid prosecutor with €233,206.
Last year, Mr O'Connell successfully prosecuted Barry Doyle for the murder of Limerick man Shane Geoghegan.
Previously, he had been the lead prosecutor in the 'Lying Eyes' case that resulted in the jailing of Sharon Collins for hiring a hitman to kill PJ Howard and his two sons.
The payments received by Mr O'Connell and Mr McGinn were part of €12.2m paid to barristers by the DPP last year – a drop of 7.6pc on the €13m paid out in 2011.
There has been a 20pc reduction since 2009, when payments by the DPP peaked at €15.2m.
Also in the top 10 is newspaper columnist, author and political pundit Noel Whelan BL, who received €190,341.
Una Ni Raifeartaigh SC, who is prosecuting three former executives of Anglo Irish Bank, including Sean FitzPatrick, received €197,228.
Senior counsel received an aggregate €3.28m, down from €3.3m in 2011, while junior counsel received €8.9m, down from €10m.
Barrister Brendan Grehan SC received €159,770. This is in addition to the €257,164 that Mr Grehan received last year as defence counsel in the Criminal Legal Aid scheme, resulting in a total of €416,934 for criminal legal work last year.
Legal aid
Dominic McGinn was also in demand to defend accused persons. Last year, he received €166,859 in legal-aid payments to bring his total earnings from criminal legal work to €369,280.
High-profile barrister and newspaper columnist Paul Anthony McDermott BL received€174,186 from the DPP on top of €116,965 from the State for civil work last year.
The figures show that another of the top earners was John O'Sullivan BL, who received €162,045. He has led the prosecution at Limerick Circuit Court against leading Limerick gangland figures over the past number of years.
Other well-known defence barristers also received payments for prosecuting cases last year. They include Pauline Walley SC (€140,046), Isobel Kennedy SC (€138,941), Bernard Condon SC (€83,203), Anthony Sammon SC (€47,649) and Patrick Gageby SC (€42,353).
The overall drop in fees paid out follows savings measures introduced by Justice Minister Alan Shatter to barristers' fees in the second half of 2011.
Irish Independent
