asked the Minister for Justice the number of people who sought free legal aid and the proportion of these to whom it was granted.

The statistics sought by the Deputy are not available and their compilation would involve a detailed examination of records in every court office throughout the country. The task of compiling the statistics could not be completed in the time available, even if the expenditure of staff time on the work would have been justified. I can, however, inform the Deputy in general terms that there has during the current year been a sharp increase in expenditure under the legal aid scheme. During the first eight months of this financial year, that is, up to the 30th November, expenditure amounted to almost £22,000 as compared with a total of £16,000 during the whole of the previous year.

The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.