Mr. Philip O'Leary:

Currently, we are handling three of the ad hoc schemes for criminal legal aid and received an increased budget from the Minister in that respect, which was most welcome. The budget for 2017 has been increased by €1.7 million, which is a welcome addition. The criminal legal aid system effectively involves private practitioners who apply to participate in the scheme. The board's involvement is in the governance and administration of the scheme. It is a big scheme which has a big budget which exceeds the current civil legal aid budget. It involves considerable responsibility in terms of its governance and administration.