Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
779. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the total amount of fees paid out annually by his Department to legal firms over the past four years and to date in 2026 on appeals made under the International Protection Appeals Tribunal; to list the legal firms that were paid out in fees in each such year, in tabular form. [14834/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Legal Aid Board is the statutory body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means in the State, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021.
Section 3(3) of the Act provides that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions. However, to be of assistance to the Deputy I have had enquiries made with the Legal Aid Board on foot of which the following information is provided.
Civil legal aid and advice is provided primarily through a network of law centres by solicitors employed by the Legal Aid Board. There are 34 full time and 3 part-time law centres and specialised units. Specific law centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway currently include an international protection speciality. International protection is one of many services provided by those law centres. The Legal Aid Board also engages private solicitors to provide services in international protection cases. A substantial portion of the Board’s international protection cases are handled by private practitioners.
The Board established and maintains a panel of solicitors who are willing to provide services to persons who have been granted legal services for the purpose of: advice and/or representation in relation to an application under the International Protection Act 2015 for asylum, subsidiary protection and permission to remain; and for all relevant matters covered by the International Protection Act 2015, the Refugee Act 1996 and the Immigration Act 1999. Since 2017, referrals to private solicitors have generally occurred at the outset of the international protection process to ensure applicants receive legal advice at the earliest stage. Prior to the commencement of the Act, referrals more typically took place at the appeals stage.
The table below, as provided by the Legal Aid Board, provides the annual expenditure in relation to the provision of legal aid and advice in the area of international protection for private solicitors contracted through the Legal Aid Board’s Solicitors Panel for International Protection Matters. The Legal Aid Board have indicated that it is not possible to provide a breakdown of these fees to indicate what amount was paid for appeals because, as noted above, files are generally referred to private practitioners at the outset of the international protection process and the practitioner may submit their claim form at the end of the process for all the stages that they assisted the client.
|
Year |
Expenditure for private solicitors contracted through the Legal Aid Board’s Solicitors Panel for International Protection Matters |
|
2022 |
€1,412,658 |
|
2023 |
€2,600,253 |
|
2024 |
€3,902,575 |
|
2025 |
€4,953,527 |
|
2026 (To end of January) |
€ 258,702
|
The Legal Aid Board has indicated that, within the timeframe of the request, it was not possible to provide a list of the solicitors who received payments for legal services from the Legal Aid Board during that period and the total amount paid to each named provider annually. The Legal Aid Board has indicated that a request for information relating to third parties would have to be considered in line with their obligations under section 37 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014.
