Spending on criminal legal aid in Clare has jumped by more than 15 percent in the past two years.
More than €5.1 million euro in fees has been spent by the Department of Justice in this county alone since 2016.
If you don’t have the means to pay for your legal representation, you’re constitutionally entitled to the State paying for that service for you.
At present, to qualify for free legal aid in Ireland, you must earn under 18 thousand euro a year.
Figures received by Clare FM following a request to the Department of Justice shows more than five million euro has been shelled out under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme in Clare in the past six years.
€886,000 was paid in this county under the initiative in 2021, which, though similar to 2020 levels, is 16 percent higher than 2019’s figure.
Just over €987,000 alone was paid in Clare for criminal legal aid in 2018.
Free legal advice body FLAC has recently released its annual report, which suggested around 13,000 people called their free information line last year to seek legal advice on their entitlements.
Nearly €450,000 in expenditure has been accumulated by the Department on Criminal Legal Aid in Clare up to the 9th of June for 2022, suggesting this year’s final figure may again be an increase on the previous one.
