The amount paid out in claims by the Law Society to compensate clients of rogue solicitors totalled €2.29 million in 2015.
The Law Society has in place a compensation fund to deal with people left out of pocket by defaulting solicitors.
The overall €2.29 million paid out by the fund in 2015 was less than in recent years, when €3.83m was paid out in 2014; €2.85m in 2013; €4.3m in 2012 and €3.69m in 2011.
At the end of 2015, the fund’s accounts show it had €22.99m in financial assets.
The director general of the Law Society, Ken Murphy, said yesterday the highest single amount paid out in 2015 was €240,094.
Referring to the fund paying out less in 2015 than some other recent years, Mr Murphy said: “The claims payments reduction of €1.6m has occurred due to a reduction in the value of claims received on the fund.
“A contributory factor in the reduction in claims is believed to be the strong regulatory regime in place.”
In 2015, each solicitor taking out a practice certificate paid €760 into the compensation fund and the total contributions from solicitors into the fund increased from €6.81m to €7.13m in 2015.
