Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 February 2013
491. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a person's social welfare payments have been reduced in order to recover some of the cost of free criminal legal aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6790/13]
View answer494. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is a system to record the number of times a person has got free legal aid; the maximum number of times a person has been granted free criminal legal aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6793/13]
View answer496. Deputy John O'Mahony asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of the offences in respect of which persons were awarded free criminal legal aid in 2011 and 2012 under the headings murder, rape, sexual assault, aggravated burglary, drug offences and theft; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6795/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 491, 494 and 496 together.
The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme is governed by the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 and a series of regulations made thereunder. There is no legal provision to allow for a reduction in a person's social welfare payments on the basis that he/she has been granted a Criminal Legal Aid Certificate. Any proposal to recoup criminal legal aid by reducing a person's social welfare payments would need careful consideration as a person's right to be legally represented in respect of criminal charges, if necessary at the expense of the State, is constitutionally protected. The Deputy will appreciate my overriding concern is to ensure that no risk arises in relation to the prosecution of persons charged with criminal offences before the courts.
The Deputy will be aware that criminal legal aid is granted by the courts. Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in the performance of its functions. In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that their Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS) contains a record of legal aid granted by the District Court. The records, however, are not kept in a manner which would allow for the extraction of information showing the number of times a person has been granted criminal legal aid.
In October 2011 the Legal Aid Board commenced administering the ad hoc Garda Station Legal Advice Scheme which covers the provision of free legal advice to persons detained in respect of certain offences under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939, section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 and section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. The Board is recording detailed data, including the number of persons availing of the scheme. Their data show that from October 2011, a total of 666 persons have accessed the scheme on two or more occasions. New legislation currently being drafted will assign responsibility to the Board for administration of the entire legal aid scheme which will facilitate, inter alia, the collection of data. The information sought in relation to the range of offences covered is also not readily available from the system but I will arrange for the information to be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.
