Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Yes. There were cost overspends in demand-led areas such as the criminal legal aid scheme. I will put on record that the criminal legal aid scheme is an essential part of a functioning legal system. I could not disagree more strongly with Deputies who have spoken in the Chamber about how we should be cutting off criminal legal aid for people we might term "repeat customers". That would do a great disservice to our justice system and to our democracy. I note that this relates to the criminal legal aid scheme. Will the Minister of State provide us with an update on the civil legal aid scheme, which is absolutely due for overhaul and expansion? If the Minister of State would like to take it up, I have a Private Member's Bill that does exactly that. I ask about expansion of the civil legal aid scheme, which is long overdue.