Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome Mr. Guerin and some of his colleagues to the Dáil. I begin by reiterating my appreciation, and the appreciation of the Minister for Justice, of the important role played by barristers and solicitors in the administration of criminal justice. We made some progress on this last summer with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and she secured €9 million to make progress on restoring criminal legal aid fees. There was a 10% increase in that regard but I know there is more work to do, as does the Minister. We want to resolve this issue. We want people to be able to go about their business and not see a disruption to the administration of justice. I hope the move we made is a sign of good faith. We want to achieve more this year. Let me say that clearly. We want to have a process and we want to achieve more.

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