Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 Oct 1993

Vol. 434 No. 2

Written Answers. - Legal Aid Board Guidelines.

Noel Ahern

Question:

338 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform to give details of the guidelines operated by the Legal Aid Board in family law cases in view of the fact that there are cases where the Board makes legal representation available to the woman but not to the man even where the financial means of both are equal; and whether there are statistics available to refute the widely held perception that men are discriminated against by the Board.

Minister for Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Taylor)

All applications for legal aid and advice are determined by the Legal Aid Board in accordance with criteria contained in the scheme of Civil Legal Aid and Advice and no other criteria are used. The criteria make no distinction as between the circumstances of men and women in the matter of the granting of legal aid. In situations where individual applicants' circumstances are identical the outcome of their applications for legal aid will be the same irrespective of gender.