An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I am sure the Deputy will agree that for a long time we have been seeking to reform the criminal justice system. There have been many calls for the elimination of inefficiencies. The objective of these reforms is to make the system more effective and efficient. The Minister has 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. The Deputy has said there should be a sensible resolution of this but there has to be reform. We cannot just keep doing the same old thing. In some cases, you can have up to 15 appearances where people are being paid for every separate appearance. That is not on either.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14