Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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534. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality for details of the legal practitioners who were paid for free legal aid in 2014 and the number of cases, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37384/15]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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536. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the amounts paid to legal practitioners for criminal and civil legal aid in 2014, including the number of cases in respect of each practitioner, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37381/15]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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606. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality details of the successful applications for free legal aid, both criminal and civil, by county and by cost per county, in 2014, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37158/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 534, 536 and 606 together.

As the Deputy is aware, the provision of legal aid falls within two separate categories, i.e. civil legal aid and criminal legal aid. Details in respect of both categories are outlined below. However, there is a large volume of information in tabular format, contained in 5 Appendices, which I am forwarding to the Deputy directly.

Civil Legal Aid

New Applications:

In relation to civil legal aid the Legal Aid Board operates 29 general full time law centres in 23 different counties. Appendix 1 (forwarded to the Deputy directly) giving the number of new applicants in each of the counties in which the Board has a full time presence (the Board has five law centres in Dublin and two law centres in both Cork and Galway respectively). Persons seeking legal services can apply at any law centre and are not required to apply within the county in which they reside. The Board also operates part time law centres in the counties where it does not have a full time presence. Each of these part-time centres is overseen by a full time centre and the numbers getting services at these centres are included in the applications figure for the full time centre.

Cost for each county:

In 2014, the Legal Aid Board received total Exchequer funding of €32.574 million. The Board also generated its own income of €2.63 million, largely through contributions from clients towards the cost of the service and costs recovered, giving a total budget of just over €35.2 million.

In respect of the civil legal aid operations, legal services are provided from 29 law centres throughout the country and a small number of specialist units, with administrative offices in Cahirciveen and Dublin supporting these law centres.

I am (forwarding to the Deputy directly) the cost of operating these centres by county during 2014.

Legal Practitioners:

The total amount paid to legal practitioners for civil legal aid in 2014 was €6.7m.

The Board does not maintain information on the number of cases dealt with by each practitioner, nor does it maintain information on payments to legal practitioners on a county by county basis. I am however forwarding to the Deputy directly a list of total payments made to each legal practitioner. The Board does not maintain information on the number of cases each practitioner is paid for.

Criminal Legal Aid

The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962, which is the primary legislation covering the operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, provides that free legal aid may be granted, in certain circumstances, for the defence of persons of insufficient means in criminal proceedings.

Criminal prosecutions originate in the District Court and if so satisfied, the Judge will grant a criminal legal aid certificate. Figures are not kept in such a way as to be able to provide a breakdown by county of the number of certificates granted for criminal legal aid and the cost for each county. The Courts Service has informed my Department that the number of legal aid certificates granted in the District Court in 2014 was 51,128. Material being forwarded to the Deputy directly gives a breakdown of the number of legal aid certificates issued by Court area. Expenditure on criminal legal aid in 2014 was €49.9 million.

I am also forwarding to the Deputy directly a list detailing payments made under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme to solicitors and barristers in 2014. It is not possible to provide details by county for 2014 of the legal practitioners that were paid for free legal aid and the number of cases 00each practitioner was paid for. This information is not readily available and could not be compiled without disproportionate use of staff resources.