Gardai investigate missing State Solicitor cheques

An official at the Chief State Solicitor's Office in Dublin is being investigated by gardai in connection with missing cheques. They had been issued to a solicitor and were cashed in a north Co Dublin pub.

At least two cheques for amounts of more than £3,000 made out to solicitors are believed to have been cashed in the pub. The payments had been authorised by the Departments of Finance and Justice to cover legal fees under the criminal legal aid scheme.

The Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation was called in earlier this month after a solicitor asked why he had not been paid.

It is believed that an official in the Chief State Solicitor's Office went to see the solicitor in question and admitted taking the cheque. The official has been suspended while the investigation is carried out.

A senior Garda source said the Office would have to order an audit of all payments. The Chief State Solicitor, Mr Michael Buckley, was not available to comment on the investigation last night.

The Garda source said it was unclear how much money was involved, although it was believed that two cheques amounting to about £3,000 and £5,000 had been cashed fraudulently. No other solicitors or barristers have come forward claiming not to have been paid. "But some of them tend to be very disorganised, and may not have noticed that the cheques have not been issued," the source said.

The system for paying lawyers under the criminal legal aid scheme has been criticised for more than a decade by barristers and solicitors as too slow.

In 1988 barristers withdrew from the scheme in protest over non-payment of fees. In 1993 problems arose when it emerged that solicitors were submitting claims long after cases had been concluded.

Under the system the application for fees for prosecuting counsel must be sent from the Chief State Solicitor's Office in Dublin to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who forwards the request to the Department of Finance. This is sent to the Department of Justice's accounts branch in Killarney, Co Kerry, and the cheques are issued through the Chief State Solicitor's Office.

This year more than £3.4 million in fees to counsel was issued through the Office. Budget estimates for next year show that amount is to rise to £6.8 million.