Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There will be no dearth of work today, although we had to make some changes yesterday at short notice. Before I say a few words on rural crime and policing, I express my full support for Deputy O'Donovan's comments about free legal aid and what is seen by many members of the public as the abuse of that system. There is no doubt that during the previous general election campaign, many people brought up the issue on the doorsteps. In recent weeks, the decision by a Member of this House to seek free legal aid for his pending case has gone down very badly with the public. This morning, before coming up from the country, I read a number of e-mails that came to my office. Quite a number of the ordinary citizens of this country have expressed the opinion that we should ask questions about this and specifically seek that Deputy Paul Murphy account for his actions.

See this speech in context