Look - its like all services. Some people charge very little money for their services. Some people charge more. The client/customer chooses their advisor based on what they feel is important to them. I have always held the view that I need a good accountant, doctor and dentist - all of whom I would like to feel comfortable with and feel confident are reliable, trustworthy and will do a professional job. I am willing to pay a premium for these services. I am a solicitor myself. Some cheapy professionals do a great job, some pricey professionals don't. My big worry with the cheapies though is that they cannot possibly do a thorough professional job for some of the absolutely ridiculous prices quoted. Very likely it will be a legal executive doing the job. If it all goes horribly wrong, the client can rely on the solicitors insurance/Law Society to fix the problem ultimately but that will all take time and cause untold stress.
It is a very competitive market out there so it is possible to get a very good solicitor to work for what I regard as utterly unremunerative fees. I personally will not work for those fees. Interestingly, I seldom act for ftb's these days - in my experience they are price driven only. But I act for people the second , third and fourth time around who have not liked their ftb experience and want a degree of comfort in their dealings.
Coming back to the OP - the E350.00 is described as a fee to deal with the mortgage. Its not stamp duty. The E1000.00 fee will include any portion of the fee for dealing with the mortgage. Its a straight up choice of a fee of E1000 or E1350.00.
My view: go on recommendation.
mf