John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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518. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of accused persons that received free legal aid in each county in 2016; and the average cost per case to the State arising from free legal aid applications. [54628/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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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.

Under the 1962 Act, the courts, through the Judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. Under the Constitution, the State is obliged to provide an accused person with the means to obtain appropriate legal representation.

I can inform the Deputy that the number of criminal legal aid certificates issued by the District Courts for 2016 was 55,617. Statistics are not compiled in such a manner as to readily identify the number of certificates issued on a county by county basis.

Fees payable to solicitors for cases in the District Courts are substantially lower than the fees payable to lawyers for cases in the Circuit and Higher Courts. With regard to information sought in relation to the average cost per case to the State, given that expenditure in 2016 was €53 million and the number of certificates granted was 55,617, the approximate average cost was €953. This figure is an average of a number of different categories of legal aid expenditure relating  to the particular form of criminal legal aid which was granted.