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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Jun 1987

Vol. 373 No. 10

Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Legal Aid Centres.

5.

asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the legal aid centres are overworked and understaffed and that those who require legal advice and representation through a Government law centre experience long delays before they obtain assistance from a legal aid centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I am aware that because of the severe constraints which have necessarily been placed on public expenditure the Legal Aid Board are experiencing difficulties in meeting the demand for services under the scheme of civil legal aid and that there are delays relating to cases which are not emergency cases.

I am keeping the matter under review. I would like to emphasise, however, that emergency cases, for example cases of violence directed at a spouse or children or child abduction cases, where immediate recourse to a court is necessary are being taken on straight away at all the board's centres.

Is the Minister aware that the three major law centres in Dublin, the Ormond Quay centre, the Gardiner Street centre and the Aston Quay centre, are currently not taking on any new clients? As the majority of work done by those centres is in the area of family law and as the majority of people represented by them are wives, there is no real free legal service available for dependent wives and battered wives who require legal assistance. Will the Minister acknowledge that there is now a crisis in the operation of these law centres? Will he indicate the steps he intends to take as a matter of urgency to enable those law centres to provide the service they were providing up to February of this year?

The Deputy will have to be brief.

I will outline the present position in regard to the restrictions on services in the 12 full time law centres. Six of the centres are open to new ordinary cases, that is, non-urgent cases as well as urgent cases. I am referring to Tallaght, Tralee, Cork North Mall, Limerick, Waterford and Athlone. Five other centres, Gardiner Street, Ormond Quay, Aston House, Galway and Sligo, may be in a position to reopen in about two to four weeks time. There are difficulties in Dublin and I understand that the three Dublin centres have been closed since February or March this year for ordinary cases but, I must stress, open for emergency cases of the type identified in my reply. Only a centre in Cork is closed indefinitely but I am seeing how best I might be able to rearrange our resources to try to ease the pressure. I must stress that all centres remain open to take on emergency cases, cases which in the opinion of the board involve immediate recourse to a court.

Is the Minister aware that the centre in Tallaght, which was recently opened, has attempted to take the overflow from the Dublin centres and that it is now on the verge of closing? Is the Minister aware that the centre in Limerick is on the verge of closing as is the remaining centre in Cork? If the Minister does not take emergency action to provide additional legal staff in those centres by the end of July it is likely that there will be no more than two Government law centres open to provide legal assistance for people who cannot afford to pay legal fees.

I have asked for brevity. We are making very little progress on questions today.

Is the Minister aware that there will be hundreds left with no possibility of getting the legal assistance they require? What steps does the Minister intend taking to solve the problem?

I accept that the position in regard to the legal aid centres is serious and I propose to see how best our resources can be reallocated, if at all, to see if we can improve the position.

In the context of the review of the operation of these centres I should like to know if it is proposed to open any additional centres in the city or, more particularly, around the country where there are large areas without a service?

As of now the answer is "no".

Will the Minister confirm that the money for the running of these law centres was made available as a result of the enactment of the Funds of Suitors Act? Will the Minister indicate what funds are available pursuant to that Act for the purpose of the funding of the law centres?

The Deputy is raising another issue.

The Deputy will appreciate that I do not have that information in my brief.

Additional staff could be recruited to these law centres to enable them to function properly, with the funds that are available. I suggest that that be looked at as a matter of urgency.

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