asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on the operation of the civil legal aid services in Ireland; and the proposals, if any, he has to develop same.
Written Answers. - Civil Legal Aid Services.
37.
The Legal Aid Board who administer the scheme of civil legal aid and advice has 12 full-time law centres and 19 part-time centres in operation throughout the country. I am aware that the current restrictions on financial resources and staffing in the public service are creating certain difficulties for the board in providing services under the scheme. As a result the board are obliged from time to time to restrict the services they can provide to new clients to emergency cases only. Given the very difficult state of the public finances I can see no prospect of an improvement in this position in the short term, but I have always indicated that when the financial situation improves, I hope that further expansion of the scheme would be possible.
Despite the present difficulties, the Legal Aid Board have been able, so far, to provide legal services under the scheme, which I introduced in 1980, to over 35,000 people.