Colm M. Hilliard
Question:384 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for Justice the reason Subhead C of Vote 19 has increased by 43 per cent in the 1996 Estimates. [19344/96]
Written Answers. - 1996 Estimates.
Subhead C of Vote 19 caters for payments in respect of criminal legal aid.
The cost of the criminal legal aid scheme is dependent on a number of factors including the fees payable under the scheme and that the two main determinants of expenditure in the scheme remain outside my control and cannot be easily anticipated. These are the decisions to grant legal aid by the court and the actual cost arising in any particular case which depends on the number of counsel appointed by the courts, the fees paid by the Director of Public Prosecutions to the prosecution counsel and the length of the trial.
An allocation of £6.5 million was made in the 1995 Estimates. However, the provisional outturn for 1995 shows that the actual expenditure on the criminal legal aid scheme in 1995 was £7.988 million. This is 13 per cent above the actual expenditure figure for 1994. These trends and the continuing increase in the number of claims being made — from 15,479 in 1990 to 28,564 in 1995 — were taken into account by my Department when framing the 1996 Estimates. On this basis it is anticipated that £9.322 million will be required in 1996 to defray the cost of claims under the criminal legal aid scheme. While this amount is 43 per cent greater than the provision made in the 1995 Estimate, it is 16 per cent above the provisional outturn of £7.988 million for 1995 and is in keeping with increases in actual expenditure on the scheme in the previous two years.
Colm M. Hilliard
Question:385 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for Justice the reason Subhead A7 of Vote 20 has decreased by 93 per cent in the 1996 Estimates. [19345/96]
The decrease in subhead A7 of Vote 20 in 1996 is due to the fact that the consultancy phase of the Garda information technology plan has been largely completed and that further expenditure on it will be appropriate mainly to the A5 subhead.
Colm M. Hilliard
Question:386 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for Justice the courthouses funded under Subhead B of Vote 22 in 1995; and the courthouses that will be funded under Subhead B of Vote 22 in 1996. [19346/96]
The projects listed on the following table were funded in 1995 under subhead B. 1. (i) and (ii) of Vote 22 — the Courts Capital and Maintenance budgets and payments, including consultants fees, ranged from £100 to £1 million.
Funding on the following courthouse projects was ongoing in 1995 and will be continuing in 1996: Ballina, Ballinasloe, Carlow, Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlecomer, Clonmel, Dungarvan, Galway.
A number of projects are at various stages of planning and work should commence in 1996. I am finalising the work programme at present.
The following projects were funded in 1995: Abbeyfeale, Arklow, Athlone, Ballina, Ballinamore, Ballinrobe, Ballinasloe, Ballyhaunis, Belmullet, Bray, Clonmel, Carlow, Carrick-on-Shannon, Carrickmacross, Castlebar, Castleblay-ney, Castlecomer, Cavan, Clones, Cork (Washington Street), Cork District Court, Anglesea St., Donegal, Dundalk, Dungarvan, Dún Laoghaire, Dunshaughlin, Edenderry, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Fermoy, Galway, Gorey, Headford, Kilkenny, Letterkenny, Limerick Circuit, Longford, Loughrea, Mullingar, Naas, New Ross, Portlaoise, Portumna, Roscommon, Sligo, Swinford, Thurles, Tipperary, Tralee, Trim, Tuam, Tullamore, Youghal,
Dublin: Four Courts Complex, Chancery Street, Children's Court/Traffic Court, Smithfield, Dolphin House, Green Street, Kilmainham.
Colm M. Hilliard
Question:387 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for Justice the services funded under Subhead C of Vote 21 in 1995; and the services that will be funded under Subhead C of Vote 21 in 1996. [19350/96]
Colm M. Hilliard
Question:388 Mr. Hilliard asked the Minister for Justice the purposes for which it is intended to spend the money under Subhead B of Vote 21 in 1996; and the purpose for which similar finance was spent in 1995. [19351/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 387 and 388 together.
Details of the services funded from subheads B and C of Vote 21 (Prisons) in 1995 are set out on pages 85 and 86 of the 1995 volume of Revised Estimates for the Public Services. Similar services will be funded from subheads B and C in 1996.