Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
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]
Amharc ar fhreagra803. 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]
Amharc ar fhreagra804. 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]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 802, 803 and 804 together.
The Legal Aid Board (LAB) is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means. This includes the provision of legal aid and advice to international protection applicants.
International protection applicants who meet the financial eligibility criteria can avail of the services of LAB. The Legal Aid Board:
• provides legal assistance and advice in respect of their application.
• advises applicants in relation to the completion of their International Protection Questionnaire (if not already completed) including any grounds that the applicant may wish to set out for the purpose of requesting that the Minister should give them permission to remain in the State.
• assists the applicant in the preparation for the international protection interview and in preparing any written representations to the Minister.
• in the case of a negative recommendation on their application, provides representation for the applicant in any appeal they may take to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT).
Detailed information on civil legal aid services and advice provided to international protection applicants can be found on the Legal Aid Board website at: www.legalaidboard.ie/en/our-services/legal-aid-services/services-for-international-protection-applicants/.
Table 1 provides a breakdown of the annual expenditure from 2019 to 2025 in relation to the provision of legal aid and advice in international protection, as provided by the Legal Aid Board.
LAB has indicated that the annual expenditure in this table does not include pay or operational costs as International Protection is one of many services provided by law centres and therefore the expenditure on International Protection cannot be extracted from the overall pay and operational costs for law centres. It is broken down by expenditure for private solicitors contracted through the Legal Aid Boards, Solicitors Panel for International Protection Matters and for barristers retained from the International Protection Barristers Sub panel as well as related service delivery costs such as expert medical reports, translations and interpreter services.
It is also not possible to determine the average cost per applicant of legal aid services provided to persons seeking international protection, as the expenditure in table one does not include pay or operational costs.
The Legal Aid Board also advise that it is not possible to provide a breakdown of expenditure by application stage as this information is not recorded in a manner which allows for the collation of data as requested and that case outcomes are not recorded in a manner which allows the data to be extracted along the lines sought by the Deputy.
Table 1
|
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
|
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|
International Protection |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Counsel Fees |
0 |
911 |
1,569 |
2,702 |
64,518 |
178,141 |
241,503 |
|
Medical Fees |
56,365 |
33,539 |
34,183 |
52,814 |
83,258 |
176,092 |
116,446 |
|
Other Fees |
1,063 |
304 |
1,857 |
344 |
385 |
83 |
385 |
|
Translations |
37,322 |
130,387 |
10,763 |
56,986 |
55,172 |
121,700 |
132,577 |
|
Interpretation |
236,934 |
143,368 |
116,628 |
541,627 |
1,326,651 |
1,319,805 |
1,145,784 |
|
Private Practitioners |
1,251,105 |
935,398 |
823,873 |
1,412,658 |
2,600,253 |
3,902,575 |
4,953,527 |
|
TOTAL |
1,582,789 |
1,243,907 |
988,873 |
2,067,130 |
4,130,236 |
5,698,396 |
6,590,222
|
Table 2 provides the total number of applications for legal services related to international protection since 2019.
Table 2
|
Year |
Applications for legal services for international protection |
|
2019 |
2,539 |
|
2020 |
1,174 |
|
2021 |
1,464 |
|
2022 |
6,858 |
|
2023 |
9,918 |
|
2024 |
11,689 |
|
2025 |
8,534 |
It should also be noted that the figures in table two relate to the year the application was received and not necessarily the year on which work on the file was completed.
