DOWN-AT-HEEL lawyers struggling to find work in the recession are being offered €600 a day to represent the state during appeals by failed asylum seekers.

Forty-two barristers and solicitors have been appointed to what is known as a "presenting panel" to give evidence on behalf of the state at appeal hearings for the would-be refugees.

They will be paid up to €600 per case, some of which last less than an hour, according to details of the scheme made available to the Sunday Tribune.

Even if the case does not go ahead, the lawyers can expect a fee of €100 despite the fact they won't have to do any work. The fees are on a sliding scale, determined by the complexity of the case, and range from €100 to €600.

Preparing a file and representing the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (Orac) will command a fee of €300 for an ordinary case.

Oral hearings for a husband and wife who both have similar cases will net the lawyer €450, while a husband and wife hearing where both are making a different case will yield €600.

Hundreds of hearings at the Refugee Appeals Tribunal have taken place in recent years without the need for this type of legal representation.

The costs of the scheme do not end there and more than €27,000 was spent advertising the plan and putting together the 42-strong panel.

A statement from the Department of Justice said: "The interview board recommended that 42 people be placed on the presenting panel with a further 21 people placed on a 'reserve' panel should the need arise to replace people.

"The 42 successful applicants comprised 30 barristers, three solicitors and nine law graduates. Members of the presenting panel have not been appointed as staff members of the department or of Orac.

"The panel members have not been designated authorised officers of the commissioner as they do not have a decision-making function. They are engaged specifically to represent the commissioner at appeal hearings in the tribunal in respect of which they receive a fee on a case-completed basis.

"The members of the presenting panel are precluded by contract from sub-contracting work to another solicitor or barrister and are not permitted to undertake other work associated with the work of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal or Orac or the Refugee Legal Service."

Every asylum seeker in the state is entitled first to make an application for refugee status to Orac.

If that fails, they can take make an appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, which will reconsider the case in its entirety.

Should that fail, many asylum seekers take judicial review proceedings, which have proven massively expensive in recent years.

In 2008, a total of 598 failed asylum seekers sought a judicial review of decisions made either by Orac or the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.