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

That concludes Deputy Daly's slot. I will put a question before starting the second round. Senator Ward has indicated for the second round and may be the last member offering. The session is due to conclude at 7 p.m. anyway, so we are into the last round in any event.

I will make a couple of points. The case made by a number of the witnesses concerning the cuts to legal aid fees for practitioners was a strong one. It has been made well again today and has been made many other times also. A number of submissions pointed out how this was not about a fee increase, but a fee restoration. That is an important point to make. It is difficult to comprehend how, as far as I am aware, every other profession that is subject to State funding has been restored except for legal aid practitioners in the criminal sphere. That seems unfair and unanswerable. Something that I imagine must stick in the craw of prosecutors is that those instructed by the DPP voluntarily took a hit at the time in solidarity with defence colleagues. It has not been restored either. It is not right that either side of the house, defence or prosecution, should have taken a hit, but I imagine that it must be particularly galling for those who put their hands up and, in a time of need, said they would do their thing only for it not to be reciprocated. That is disappointing. Those points were well made. I hope that we see some action soon. This committee will be making recommendations on the matter in due course. I think I know what they will be. We will see what colleagues think when we meet, but I can be fairly confident on that.

There was a suggestion in some of the submissions regarding the direction of travel at the criminal Bar. My next question applies to solicitors if the matter affects them as well. Anecdotally, has there been a decrease in the number of people practising criminal law? Are people not going into it or, if they go into it, do they not stay there or do they have mixed practices for a number of years? The Criminal Courts of Justice being a little bit away from the Four Courts may be having an impact. I am told that, in days of old, one would run from a jury trial to a defamation trial and back again. Both have juries, actually, and we will keep juries if this committee has its way, but that is a different point. There may be a separation between courts now, though. In the Circuit Court down the country, that is not the case because civil and criminal cases are going on upstairs, downstairs and everywhere else. To what extent is this issue seeping through into practice? Is it having a detrimental effect on the numbers available to take instruction, be that defence or prosecution?

That is my first question and we will start there, as I have a couple of other questions. Mr. Morrin has not replied yet, so I will take him now, after which I will invite Ms Phelan. Anyone else who wishes to comment can do so afterwards.