James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As nobody else wants to contribute, that concludes Vote 22 on the Courts Service. The next Vote, Vote 24, has two pillars and I propose to take each of them separately. There is the criminal justice pillar, Vote 24A, and then Vote 24B is the civil justice pillar. I will take the criminal justice pillar first and we will take questions on that. Then I will take questions on the civil justice pillar.

I have two questions on the criminal justice Vote 24A. First, I note that, in Backweston, which is outside Celbridge, the Forensic Science Ireland laboratory is under development. I was delighted to attend at the turning of the sod there a couple of years ago when that was first in being. That is progressing. There is €5 million allocated to that in these Estimates. That is certainly good news. I ask the Minister of State to comment on the plans for that and how that is going.

Under the same pillar, Vote 24A, subhead A15, legal aid, we have heard a number of questions in the Chamber in recent times and there is a general argument being put forward, certainly by practitioners and those in the field such as State solicitors and barristers etc., who are on legal aid rates, that the rates have not changed. Unlike in many other professions, there has been no unwinding of the financial emergency measures in public interest, FEMPI, rates. Indeed, people are beginning to leave those professions. There may come a crisis point in terms of legally aided defendants and, indeed, prosecutions. Various stakeholders would argue that is coming sooner rather than later. From personal experience, there are people leaving weekly. It is regrettable. The Minister of State might comment, either under this subhead or elsewhere, on whether there is any movement on that.