Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount paid annually for free legal aid as a result of insurance claims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23751/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Legal Aid Board is the statutory body responsible for the provision of legal advice and legal aid to persons of insufficient means in civil cases.  The vast majority of persons who are granted legal aid by the Board seek assistance in relation to family law, child care matters or with applications for international protection in the State.

Civil litigation cases represent a very small proportion of the total cases dealt with by the Board. In 2017 approximately 3% of applications (520 of 17,172) received by the Board for legal services related to general civil law matters. Of these, 219 related to personal injuries cases including medical negligence, 45 of which were granted legal aid to pursue civil litigation cases in accordance with the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995.

The Legal Aid Board does not collate its statistics in a manner that would demonstrate how many of the above cases would specifically involve an insurance claim, or what cost would be associated with these cases.