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ALMOST €50 MILLION was spent on criminal legal aid in Ireland last year, Frances Fitzgerald has revealed.
The Justice Minister recently informed the Dáil that €49.9 million was spent in 2014, slightly less than the year before. Some €60.3 million was spent on legal aid in 2009.
Here’s a breakdown of criminal legal aid expenditure over the past six years:
Fitzgerald was responding to a parliamentary question asked by Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath.
In order to qualify for legal aid a person has to prove to the courts their means are insufficient to pay for legal representation.
Reducing cost
Fitzgerald said that in an attempt to reduce the expenditure of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, the rates of fees paid to legal practitioners were reduced by 8% in March 2009 and by a further 8% in April 2010.
There was also a reduction of 10% in July 2011 in the fees payable in the District Court. Fees payable in the Circuit and higher courts were decreased by 10% in October 2011, following the reduction in the fees payable by the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecution practitioners.
A reduction of 50% was also applied to payments in respect of adjourned sentence hearings and travel and subsistence payments from 2011.
“Expenditure on the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme is monitored on an ongoing basis with a view to identifying any areas where further efficiencies may be achieved,” Fitzgerald stated.
She added that a new Criminal Legal Aid Bill is currently being drafted “to update and strengthen the system of granting legal aid”.
The new legislation will also transfer the responsibility for the administration of the scheme to the Legal Aid Board, an independent State body that deals with civil legal aid.
How horrific. Kildare of all places.
Could have been worse, could have been Dublin.
Where’s Walli?
Feck you Elma
Sorry Philip!
I just don’t understand why they can’t find a person speaking pashto, there are innumerable people, workers, doctors from Pakistan who speak same language. Guards just need to ask in the nearest General Hospital and they will find an interpreter if urgent..
If you are allowed here from India then why is wali not?
your question is irrelevant
Are u here to comment the article or me?
The same I could ask you Mark. Stick to the topic. Mr Borse legal status is not questioned in this article
Very confused? If was really a refugee fleeing persecution why did he spend 3 months travelling to possibly the furthest safe country possible? Oh yes, he will be given somewhere to live, welfare , a medical card. I am Irish and have worked since I was 15 (albeit part time whilst in school) and have never been given any of these by the government. But this man who illegally entered the country probably will.
Cathetine he wasn’t too confused to gind the softest touches in the western world. Bring him to Shannon and put him in one of the war mongerers planes. if he is afghan theyre the reason he is here anyway
what does “gind” mean, please?
what should I know? why did you not correct said ‘typo’?
Wait till he finds his feet here.. then he’ll start trying to change our education system, traditions etc.etc.
He will marry a girl who feels sorry for him and have babies.
No passport or id but “his solicitor” said he maybe “entitled”. Wonder if I’m found confused in Afghanistan what would I be entitled to. Must ask my solicitor. Oh wait. I can’t afford one.
What you’d be entitled to in Afghanistan is a very very tight haircut down to the shoulder blades.
Legal professionals have made gobs of money off the asylum industry. The State has spent more than €700 million in the past five years on just accommodation costs and legal fees for people seeking refugee or protection status in Ireland. €40 million of that was on legal fees. I’d say they’re the main proponents of the asylum racket, them, the property market and of course all the immigrant and “racism” quangos.
irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/state-spends-700m-on-asylum-system-over-past-five-years-1.2297850
The reality is that it has become an industry now. There are many very vocal vested interests who are making a nice living off this now so it is here to stay regardless.
Asylum seekers are not boarding jets to Charles de gaulle and then transiting to Dublin. Thst is economic migration so less sob stories about that as it is clearly bull. The industry can’t admit that so they will scream racist and we will all scuttle back in to our shells for fear of being labelled.
From that report:
The minister also pointed out that “in very many instances the delay in finalising cases is due to applicants challenging negative decisions by initiating multiple judicial reviews at various stages of the process. Thousands of applications cannot be finalised because of these legal challenges. Moreover, many other failed protection applicants do not leave the State when subject to a Deportation Order”.
As you can see, it’s a racket for the legal profession, appeal after appeal after appeal. You hear of asylum seekers being in direct provision for 7 years and we are all suppsoed to cry our eyes out but the reality is they keep appealing when they are turned down.
Apparently The barrister wife of former Fianna Fail minister Barry Andrews received more than a €1m for briefs from the Attorney General’s office to fight asylum applications in the past five years.
independent.ie/irish-news/courts/state-asylum-cases-earned-exministers-wife-1m-29908349.html
At the height of the boom in Ireland in the early 2000′s, nearly one in two asylum seekers here were Nigerian. Of that, upto nine out of ten of them would tell the ORAC they made part of their journey to Ireland by air but micracously had no documentation or ID.
Two-thirds of failed asylum seekers in 2012 had used false identities:
independent.ie/irish-news/twothirds-of-failed-asylum-seekers-had-used-false-identities-26855916.html
A total racket.
The politicians need to answer for this debacle. How long does it take to change these stupid laws.
Afghan hide and seek champion
or somebody trying to flee the horrors of criminality he was involved in, conveniently losing his documents on route to hide his identity.
How the hell did he remain undetected for three months?
By being undocumented I presume.
Is there such a thing as a “legal lawbreaker”.
@Journal – So the journal is now active in removing legitimate comments pointing out that this man is here illegally, breaking Irish law and then using the word ‘undocumented’ in its article to obfuscate this. Disgraceful attack on free speech – where only the politically correct left worldview is tolerated.
Im sure there lining up his free house as we speak
‘he clutches his Koran to his chest each day in court.’…. whoop de do.
But did he swear on the bible that he knows nothing.
Nope, that would be against his religion.
I know niall……being such a wonderful religion, the penalty would be death.
Goddamn Koran bashers ;)
Lol he has the Quran but no identity card? An other one in to fool this country. BTW ireland is allowing 300 refugees in the next 2 years and many Irish have a problem with it but no one is looking into the influx of Europeans and south Americans into Ireland ie 20K every month. Look up the website of INTREO and note the numbers of PPSN’s issued and you will be surprised.
I’d say he came out of the time capsule in Naas, haughty probably locked him up there years ago he was originally a Kerry man rumour has it
Europe’s next great challenge is the huge influx of migrants from the Middle east and North Africa.
Islam will become Europe’s dominant religion, It will bring with it massive social challenges and changes, within the vast gulf in culture between the migrants and the native population of the European nations clash, as the mostly men(of fighting age) come in there ten’s of thousands each year.
Already, Europe’s weak and unified response to this crisis, along with our generous welfare system and soft touch legal system will ensure the above happens
Why are u bringing religion into this? And the problem that Europe already has is the influx of eastern Europeans into the richer EU countries. Look into the English and they want to Quit the EU. Look into finland. And If an EU national moves to Denmark the Danish have to see a bank statement of 9k to issue them a Danish CPR like the Irish PPSN or they can’t work, and we should do the same here. We are getting Romanians and Bulgarians now coming here with 5 kids and 2 parents applying for housing without even working a day in Ireland. And they getting them on human rights basis.
Damn it’s so funny. All of them refugees stick to one story that is they don’t have a clue how did they got here. If he knows he is from that country they why is not put on the next plane? I know some people with pashto if the government needs a few translators. He is definitely in his early 30′s as they all lie about their age and he must have come from the UK. These containers always carry a few of them so where is the rest of them hiding? And his name is definitely not what he is saying. These are all tactics these lads use and they will never change their statement bcaz if they do then they will fail in they asylum application. The Irish government is just turning a blind eye to all these bogus scams.
… Then why is he not boarded on the next flight to Afghanistan?
Haven’t you heard?! Irish people traveled to America in the 19th century, so logically Ireland must now take in anyone who travels here illegally.
Have my you heard everyone came from Africa 50k yrs ago so logically we are all entitled to return. Utter nonsense!
“A fiddlers Arm”……..Classic..
I preferred elbow
When he’s told he’s in Ireland he’ll be on the first Lorry out of Rosslare.
Hehe..out of the frying pan and into the fire
Brilliant.. Exactly what this country needs!
Afgan version of Where’s Walli?
Straight to the dole office, he will have a few euros in his back pocket tomorrow ..
A lot of Irish are begrudging this chap for no other reason then he fled his country and ended up here. A lot of Irish were in his position not so long ago don’t forget that yea blighters.
Not so long ago?….when was this?
If you’re such a patriot, you should already know.
how dare you bring up our ingrained xenophobia!
I don’t think it’s begrudgery, more questioning of the facilities made available to this person as a matter of urgency when the indigenous population aren’t afforded such immediate treatment.
Still waiting for which period of Irish history you’re referring to……just say it.
He’s got nothing yet Susan, so far it’s all speculation.
Wake up will ya
I’m well awake, I just don’t jump to conclusions. How he is getting treated now is just giving him basic human rights like in the geneva convention.
As an Irish man who pays tax’s, I’m glad I have a country that doesn’t just throw out someone from the country just because he has nothing to contribute right now.
@Susan. The facilities made available to him immediately were cloverhill. Don’t think many of us
Are queuing up to get in there.
Presumably when he is granted asylum, he will have a roof over his head. there are some Irish people that currently don’t even have that. that’s not jumping to conclusions, that’s an undeniable reality. But the two of you carry on with your head in the clouds, whatever helps you sleep your deluded sleep at night.
“Nearly all of them are going to get married to Polish/Latvian nationalities”…..I dont see how the situation you have just outlined matches withe case in above article?
Susan you went off topic and started about having a roof over the head and the housing crisis and that is irrelevant to this article.
As I explained to you previously perhaps the housing he WILL be provided with as an asylum seeker is the reason for begrudgery -referenced in your original comment. Housing is entirely germane to this topic. Try keep up-or at least stay on topic with your original comment.
no Susan you’re making hysterical assumptions and predictions and presenting them as relevant facts which just isn’t the case.
Where’s the hysteria, Amy?
Also is there a reason you started your sentence with ‘no’? Did you have a relevant point to make?
reply to question 1: please reread your comments. reply to question 2: please reread your comments. fairly aggressive, aren’t you? I’d say you’re a barrel of laughs
Ah I see, making it personal now are we? Nice attitude. Now let me ask-and see if you’re capable of answering this time-where is the hysteria? Be a dear & go play with people your own mental age, You’re giving me a headache.
If you look at the comments on here, its easy to see how Hitler got his teeth into the German people in order to hate the Jews. In a similar way, the government has taken so much from our people, and has given it to the well off. Irish Water, DOB and the banks etc.. This chap ‘Walli Ullah’, is from a conflicted country and the way I see it, he is getting a lot of that frustration because he is an easy target for it.
This recession is making a lot of our people angry and cold, its a sad thing to see. I wish we were more like the Icelanders and non of this s@@t would have happened in the first place. Saying that, I hope a lot of you can see it from this lads perspective, what he had to go though to get here, I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Everything he has ever known is now lost (for now), we dont know anything about this lad. If he is good or bad, what he has done or why he has fled his country, we just dont know. Until we do however, we should treat him with the respect which we would want shown to ourselves if we were in that position. Wouldn’t You?
I want our country to look after the people, everyone. I dont want to see families evicted out of their homes because it was looked at as a commodity. I want people that are genuinely found in a tight position in their lives to find some hope and safety from our social system. And I am happy to put my own hard earned money into such a system. And to look at things, we are seeing that as a nation we are moving away from such a system in the future which is a major blow to our social EQ.
For all you out there that are angry and are hurting from this recession I personally want the best for you, everyone, and that includes this lad. At the end of the day, we all need a support unit, close friends, family or people we just love. This guy doesn’t even have that, he cant develop it because he is one, in jail, and two speaks a few rare languages. Imagine being that guy right this second, I did and it doesn’t appeal at all.
His level of English is sufficient enough to hold a conversation but he has no English???
He spoke Farsi
Maybe Iran would have suited him more, I would have thought.
Maybe he calculated the welfare he’d get there and figured Ireland were bigger suckers.
My God the racist generalisations here are sickening.
How are they racist?
He’s only 21 and frightened , who knows what he’s witnessed , maybe his entire family have been wiped out
Why did he wait to get to Ireland to claim asylum? He passed through lots of countries. You claim asylum in the first country you enter. Ive family and friends who had to leave Ireland to find work in Australia. Maybe we look after our own people first.
That could be true too John but he is at least genuinely coming from an appalling place so does satisfy the criterion , we’r quite happy to house , feed , give medical cards to and educate the bogus people , why not at least do the same for a genuine asylum seeker ?
What’s the bet that by the time this is all patiently sorted out, translations and all, his legal team will have enough money to buy a Villa in the south of Spain, each, with cash?
that happens to me every Sunday morning. ..
Maybe he got mixed up with the Irish army and the Irish navy who would safe him. Hence getting off in Kildare prob.heading for the Curragh camp. But someone failed to tell him there is no port in Kildare. But welcome to Ireland Ullah or what ever your real name is no papers I presume. There will be plenty of legal eagles lining up to fight your case. If you are ever down my way in Moyross Limerick you are welcome to sleep on my couch to prove I am not a right wing racist.
Thanks god our own coffin ships were not pushed back at Ellis Island.
You know people on those ships payed their fare like most other Europeans at the time to get to Ellis Island where an inscription reads…
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
There’s a great similarity in opinion between what I read on this site, and what the Orange Order here in Canada were claiming in 1847.
Send him back to Leitrim
This story should be on the most unexpected twists in history article
Send him to Bray.
well fair balls to him makes it all the way from afghanistan to ireland and they put him in cloverhill.God only knows what went on in his life before makin it here.i hope he is looked after…
Won’t be long before this is happening here. There is no reason as to why it wouldn’t.
“Hunt for gang after man was beaten up on Tower Bridge in unprovoked attack”
Check out crime in Sweden, they have it really bad from all the Middle Eastern and African immigrants they have welcomed in. You might have to look a little harder than expected because of massive media cover-ups. There are actually women in Sweden dying their hair from red or blonde in order to avoid being rape targets, as they are highly sought after by their guests.
let him stay,he’s already contributed to Irish society with this story.Thats if he wants to stay.
“Muslim gang-rapes across Europe under-reported in press”
Gary
Here we go:
He said that food served to Mr Ullah while on remand at Clover Hill Prison does not meet with the requirements of his religion.
http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2015/07/24/man-found-lying-on-side-of-motorway-at-naas/
If you’re such a patriot, you should already know.
Sure you’ll take him into your houde so and paybhim his dole. Teach him English while you’re at it
May you need teaching english too John ?
Nice correction Edwina. :P
@Edwina. You comment read good.
“finds himself ” LOL
Walli Ullah. That’s a very unusual name. Never heard it before.
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