I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £50,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on 31st day of March, 1973, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Attorney General, et cetera, and for the expenses of criminal prosecutions and other law charges.
The Supplementary Estimate on this Vote is mainly attributable to the excess of £34,000 in fees for counsel. A major factor accounting for this excess is the Special Criminal Court. This court was set up, as Deputies are aware, in May, 1972, because the Government of the day considered it necessary on the grounds that the ordinary courts were inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order. This court has been sitting almost continuously since it was set up. Approximately 230 cases have been referred to it. The reference of the case against the British Government to the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is another important factor. Most aspects of the Irish case were, as Members are aware, deemed admissible by the Court and procedures are at present in train for consideration of the merits of the case. Other contributory factors are the increasing incidence of crime and a shortage of staff in the Chief State Solicitor's Office necessitating the engagement of junior counsel on a fee basis for District Court work. The excess of £12,000 on general law expenses is mainly accounted for by the upward trend in the number of court cases. The excess of £4,000 on travelling and incidental expenses is accounted for in roughly equal shares between the Court of Human Rights case in Strasbourg and an upper trend in travelling and subsistence expenses.