423. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the way he defines "a case" in the new flat fee payment model for criminal legal aid introduced on 1 July 2026; and the way this applies when an accused person is before the courts for separate and distinct offences committed on separate dates. [66557/26]
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
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Showing questions asked by Ken O'Flynn under the heading Legal Aid.
31 questions match, newest first.
424. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the amount the State expects to save annually from the new payment model for the criminal legal aid scheme he introduced on 1 July 2026. [66556/26]
656. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department will request the Legal Aid Board to develop a methodology to estimate the full cost of legal aid services provided to international protection applicants, including pay, law centre overheads, administrative costs, private practitioner costs, counsel fees, interpretation, translation, medical reports and related s…
657. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the Legal Aid Board records the outcome of international protection cases in which it provides legal assistance, including grants of protection, refusals, appeals lodged, appeals allowed, appeals withdrawn and appeals refused; if not, whether he considers this a data gap in the oversight of publicly funded legal services; and i…
658. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department has asked the Legal Aid Board to record legal aid expenditure in international protection cases by stage, including initial application, interview preparation, written representations, appeal preparation and appeal hearing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32907/26]
659. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any target, benchmark or performance indicator exists for the cost per completed international protection legal aid case; if not, whether he intends to introduce one through the Legal Aid Board performance delivery agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32908/26]
660. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the Legal Aid Board’s internal audit programme since 2019 has examined international protection legal aid expenditure specifically; if so, to provide the title and date of each audit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32909/26]
661. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether he will request the Legal Aid Board to undertake a dedicated value-for-money review of legal aid expenditure relating to international protection applicants, having regard to the increase in expenditure since 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32910/26]
662. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether the 2026 Performance Delivery Agreement with the Legal Aid Board includes any specific performance indicators relating to international protection legal aid costs, case throughput, waiting times, appeal-stage expenditure or outcome tracking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32911/26]
663. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any forecasting model is used by his Department or the Legal Aid Board to estimate future demand and expenditure for international protection legal aid services; if so, to outline the assumptions used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32912/26]
664. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether he intends to bring forward a timeline for implementing the recommendations of the Civil Legal Aid Review Group, including recommendations relating to tribunal-based matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32914/26]
665. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether legal representation in housing-related disputes, including disputes before the Residential Tenancies Board, is being considered as part of reform of the civil legal aid scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32915/26]
666. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department has estimated the cost of extending civil legal aid to additional tribunal-based matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32916/26]
691. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to previous replies indicating that operational matters relating to civil legal aid fall within the remit of the Legal Aid Board, to clarify whether his Department retains policy, governance, or oversight responsibility in relation to civil legal aid services, including, access to such services; the allocation of Exchequer fund…
692. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether decisions regarding funding allocations and approved staffing levels for the Legal Aid Board are informed by any formal or periodic assessment of demand for civil legal aid services; if so, to outline the methodology used, including any metrics, projections, or service demand indicators applied; and if not, to explain the basis…
693. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any Department, agency, or cross-government mechanism is responsible for assessing overall access to civil legal aid services across all applicant categories, including Irish citizens and international protection applicants; if so, to identify that body and outline how equality of access is monitored and evaluated; and if no su…
802. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the average cost per applicant of legal aid services provided to persons seeking international protection, in each year from 2019 to 2025, broken down by application stage and appeals stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29651/26]
803. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total number of applicants for international protection who received legal aid services in each year from 2019 to 2025; the corresponding total expenditure, in order to establish the average cost per case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29652/26]
804. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number and proportion of international protection applications supported by Legal Aid Board services that resulted in a grant of protection; a refusal; and a successful appeal, in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29653/26]
805. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether his Department or the Legal Aid Board has conducted any value-for-money or efficiency assessment of legal aid expenditure in respect of international protection applicants since 2019; if so, to provide details; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29654/26]
806. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether any expenditure ceiling, budgetary control mechanism, or forecasting model is in place in respect of legal aid services for international protection applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29655/26]
807. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether Ireland's expenditure per capita on legal aid services for international protection applicants has been benchmarked against other EU Member States; if so, to provide the findings of such benchmarking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29659/26]
808. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration whether consideration has been given to expanding access to legal representation for Irish citizens in areas currently excluded or limited, including housing disputes and tribunal-based matters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29660/26]
1371. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to detail the total annual cost of providing free legal services to asylum seekers and persons seeking international protection through the Refugee Legal Service under the Legal Aid Board; the source of this funding; if he will outline how this expenditure is justified when many Irish citizens are unable to access similar free legal r…
1372. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of asylum seekers or persons seeking international protection who received free legal advice or representation through the Legal Aid Board, in each of the past five years; and the total expenditure on same in each year. [59943/25]