We completed by POA given to our solicitors.
If you have a mortgage then both the property and the mortgage have to be registered with the notary, hence the double cost.
After 3-4 months we received a photo copy of the mortgage deeds, the originals held by our motgaging bank, and an original copy of the purchase deeds.
We did have to chase our solicitors a few times.
Also bear in mind that the charges for the notary are usually estimated, especially if completing by POA. On chasing our solicitor we received back €1000 which was sitting in their client account, once again returned only after I asked them directly for the notary costs.