Matt Carthy said the reason the scheme was in crisis was because of the payment structure that has been in place for a number of years, which had led to an exodus of solicitors from the civil legal aid scheme and “a huge backlog” in family law cases.

A new Act to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles will halt all related inquests after May 1.

Helen McEntee has said the legislation will help gardaí ‘trawl’ through hours of footage retrospectively