Solicitor Conal Boyce, of Wilkinson and Price Solicitors in Naas, was paid E164,582.23 through the criminal legal aid scheme last year.
Tony Hanahoe of Hanahoe and Hanahoe Solicitors in Naas, earned E132,225.01 from the scheme.
Legal aid fees p
aid to solicitors were cut by 8 per cent in March of last year amid concerns about the spiralling cost of the service.
Free legal aid is provided to defendants under the provision of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962.
A District Court judge can grant a certificate of free legal aid to those charged with serious offences - generally those risking a prison sentence - if they decides that a defendant does not have the means to pay for legal advice.
Solicitors are paid E243.36 to represent a defendant in the District Court.
However, a sliding payment scale comes into effect which cuts the rate to E60.86 for each subsequent hearing date for the case.
Separate payment schemes are in effect for the circuit and higher courts.
Several other solicitors who appear regularly in Kildare's District Courts were also paid through the scheme for work done in 2009, according to figures from the Department of Justice.
David Powderly was paid E61,361.22; David Gibbons E46,075.71; Eoin O'Connor E34,463.22; Frank Taaffe E22,468.78; Edward Timmins E12,922.66; Jason Teahan E12,910.44; Peter Flanagan E12,180.76; Stephen Walsh E9,217.12; Violet Behan E8,747.76; Paul Stack E6,796.37; David Osborne E6,607.40; Sharon Murphy E6,493.72; Patrick Reidy E3,643.29; Paul Cunningham E2,737.96 and Arthur Denneny E656.82.
