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GOVERNMENT PLANS to introduce a means test for criminal legal aid yesterday won support from Fine Gael.

The party’s spokesman on justice, Charlie Flanagan, said he welcomed the move but claimed the initiative had come not from the Government but from the committee, known as An Bord Snip Nua and chaired by economist Colm McCarthy, which was asked to identify savings in public spending. “I have been calling for strict scrutiny of criminal legal aid applications for some time and I welcome An Bord Snip Nua’s recommendation that a means test be introduced,” said Mr Flanagan.