This is the first government budget since the Bar Council led criminal barristers out on an unprecedented withdrawal of services across three days this summer.

A previous one-day withdrawal of services last October led to a partial 10 per cent restoration of legal aid fees.

Fees are currently at 2002 levels as a result of cuts imposed after the 2008 crash, and have been eroded further in real terms by inflation and increases in the cost of living.

Both the Bar Council and the Law Society made pre-budget submissions calling for fee restoration as well as broader investment in the justice system.

Justice minister Helen McEntee recently said the cost of restoring criminal legal aid fees to pre-2008 levels “would be in the region of an additional €15.7 million and would amount to an overall annual criminal legal aid bill of approximately €113.8 million”.