Mr. Philip O'Leary:

As I said in my opening address, there was the perfect storm from the point of view of civil legal aid and the number rose to over 19,500 applications. It has now settled back to a figure in the range of 16,000 to 17,000 per annum. In recent months, because of the introduction of the Abhaile scheme, there has been a huge increase in the number of applications. It is a scheme that is very welcome and worthwhile.