Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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525. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated full year costs of restoring legal aid payments to barristers and solicitors, working for the State, to pre-FEMPI levels, in tabular form. [36667/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, last year I secured funding of €9 million to increase by 10% the fees payable to legal professionals for their services in providing criminal legal aid. This 10% increase in fees has been paid since 1 January 2024.

I said at that time, and have subsequently confirmed, that the securing of this initial 10% increase was the starting point in a wider process to see the restoration of the FEMPI cuts applied to criminal legal aid, and I am continuing to engage with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in the context of the 2025 estimates process to secure additional funding to progress this further.

As the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme is demand-led and it is for the courts to decide in any given case if legal aid is to be granted, it is not possible to accurately predict the cost of the Scheme in any given year.

However, based on the cost of providing criminal legal aid in 2023, and allowing for a 10% increase in fees that is being paid since the start of this year, I am advised that the cost of restoring the rest of the FEMPI cuts applied to criminal legal aid fees would be in the region of an additional €15.7 million and would amount to an overall annual criminal legal aid bill of approximately €113.8 million.