31 defence lawyers earn over €500,000 each from criminal legal aid in 2025
Gordon Deegan
31 defence lawyers earned over €500,000 each (all figures incl VAT) through Criminal Legal Aid payments in 2025 as the State-funded criminal legal aid payout to lawyers last year surged by 37 per cent to a record €115.3 million.
New figures provided by the Department of Justice show that three lawyers earned almost €1 million as the payout to solicitors and barristers last year under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme totalled €115.3 million - compared to €84.08 million in 2024 - a jump of €31.2 million in one year.
The detailed figures show that judge Michael Bowman was the best-paid senior counsel in the country through criminal legal aid, receiving €961,821.
Dublin solicitor, Michael Hennessy, retained his position as the best paid criminal legal aid solicitor, receiving €971,155 while Keith Spencer BL was the best paid junior counsel at €972,551 under the criminal legal aid scheme.
Asked to comment on the figures, Mr Hennessy said that the 2025 increase in payments "Does not represent a windfall for defence lawyers but is instead representative of a concerning increase in societal inequity with a consequent increase in criminal prosecutions”.
He said: “The legal aid scheme is the underlying bastion of a fair and just criminal process”.
The criminal legal aid payout to solicitors increased by 27 per cent, rising from €48.08 million to €60.88 million, while the fee payout to barristers rose by 51pc or €18.42 million, rising from €36 million to €54.42 million.
The increase in payments to barristers was made up of fee payments to junior counsel increasing by 47pc from €21.18 million to €31.03 million, and fee payments to senior counsel increased by 57pc from €14.82 million to €23.34 million.
The top 10 paid solicitors under the scheme shared €7.5 million in fees, while the top 10 paid barristers shared €6.9 million in fees.
In all, 20 solicitors each received in excess of €500,000, while 11 barristers earned over €500,000 each.
The surge in the criminal legal aid fee spend last November prompted the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan (FF), to obtain an additional €21.5 million in a supplementary estimate to fund criminal legal aid for 2025.
The Dept of Justice had originally set aside €99.04 million to fund the criminal legal aid system in 2025.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said: “As the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme is demand-led and there has been a significant increase in the granting of legal aid over the past number of years, there has been a corresponding increase in expenditure.
"Increases in the complexity and amount of disclosure which needs to be reviewed in criminal cases and the number of legal aid certificates granted have had a significant impact on criminal legal aid expenditure.
An increase of 8 per cent in the fees paid to barristers and solicitors under the Scheme from January 1st, 2025, may also have been a contributing factor to this increased expenditure.
Mr Hennessy said that “criminal legal aid fees are calculated at an imposed flat rate rather than per hour worked as in practically all other legal areas”.
"The costs of running our entire criminal justice system, which deserves to be the envy of other Western democracies, are dwarfed by those of the domestic commercial sector. “
Mr Hennessy said “The partial restoration of fees to former levels is key to attracting the right kind of conscientious young lawyer who wants to do the job for the right reasons. If a reasonable salary was not available, then standards are at great risk of falling off".
The top paid senior counsel, Mr Bowman continues to be the most in demand senior defence counsel in the country and in the past year represented Co Kerry businessman, Nathan McDonnell (45) formerly of Ballyroe, Tralee, Co Kerry who was last year sentenced to 12 years in prison for his involvement with the largest crystal meth seizure in the history of the State.
Mr Bowman also co-represented Law professor Diarmuid Phelan (57), who walked free from the Central Criminal Court in January 2025 after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of a trespasser, Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on February 24th 2022.
