asked the Minister for Justice, in relation to Parliamentary Question No. 159 of 5 December 1989 which did not contain information in relation to the total amount of money paid to solicitors, the total amount of money paid to solicitors under the criminal legal aid scheme from September 1988 to September 1989; and the names of the recipients of such payments.
Written Answers. - Criminal Legal Aid Scheme Payments.
104.
As I explained in my reply to the Deputy's previous question the information required is not readily available and could not be compiled without the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time. However, to repeat what I told the Deputy last week, the payment system was computerised earlier this year and it is hoped that a breakdown of individual lawyer's earnings under the scheme will be available for future years.
The most recent information available regarding expenditure under the scheme is the total expenditure for 1988. This was £2,776,770 as shown in the recently published Appropriation Accounts.