A JUDGE has called for an overhaul of the free legal aid scheme, saying if repeat offenders had to pay solicitors themselves they might not be so quick to reoffend.
Judge Mary Fahy made the remarks at Galway District Court yesterday while imposing a five-month prison sentence and five-year ban on a man with 56 previous convictions for mostly motoring offences.
Father of eight Kevin McDonagh (38), Knocknacarra, Galway, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance last June while already disqualified from driving. McDonagh said he had been bringing his child to hospital but the judge said she did not believe him.
Reading an application for free legal aid, she said McDonagh was better off than most working people as he was getting €850 a week in social welfare payments.
Granting the aid, Judge Fahy said: “I don’t think this can last. The system will have to be overhauled. This free legal aid for people who are recidivists, maybe if they had to pay the money out of their own pockets they might not be so quick to reoffend.”