588. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the amount paid in criminal legal aid fees in the District Court in each year from 2015 to 2025; the number of cases handled in each of those years; to provide for each year the increase due to fee changes resulting from the reversal of FEMPI cuts, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53672/26]

Under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, it is the Courts, through the judiciary, that are responsible for the granting of legal aid. The Criminal Legal Aid Scheme is demand-led. Increases in the number of legal aid certificates granted have had a significant impact on criminal legal aid expenditure over recent years.

I can inform the Deputy that the following table sets out the cost of criminal legal aid certificates granted in the District Court from 2015 to 2025. However, it should be noted that the expenditure in a given year does not necessarily correlate to the Legal Aid Certificates issued that year, as expenditure may relate to Legal Aid Certificates issued in previous years, for which claims for payment were made in subsequent years.

The Courts Service has provided in the following table the number of cases associated with Criminal Legal Aid certificates granted by the District Court for the years 2015-2025.

It should be noted that a single legal aid certificate can have several cases associated with it, while a single case may have multiple legal aid certificates granted and such cases would be counted multiple times in the data provided.

Further, the District Court can grant legal aid in respect of cases being sent forward for trial/sentence in a higher jurisdiction. These cases would be included in the data provided.

The information is not recorded in such a way to provide the Deputy with the increase in expenditure due to fee changes resulting from the reversal of so-called FEMPI cuts.

As outlined in the Programme for Government 2025, the Government has committed to reforming the operation of Criminal Legal Aid.

The general scheme of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill 2023 was published in July 2023. This Bill will modernise the operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme and is intended to:

• Update the law relating to Criminal Legal Aid;

• Transfer administrative responsibility for the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme from the Department of Justice to the Legal Aid Board, and

• Strengthen oversight and governance structures for the Scheme.

With effect from 1 July 2026, I have introduced an 8% increase in criminal legal aid fees payable to solicitors and barristers in the Circuit Court and higher courts. This represents the total restoration of the criminal legal aid fees cut under FEMPI. I have also introduced a fee of €520 for District Court criminal cases under the criminal legal aid scheme. This figure represents the current fee paid for five appearances in the District Court plus an 8% increase, providing for a full restoration of the so-called FEMPI cuts in line with the Programme for Government commitment.