Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Feb 1997

Vol. 475 No. 1

Written Answers. - Free Legal Aid Scheme.

James McDaid

Question:

153 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the number of persons who were granted legal aid certificates in 1995 in relation to judicial separation proceedings further to his reply to Parliamentary Question 134 of 28 January 1997, in which he indicated that 1,293 applicants were processed in 1995, in spite of the fact that the figure presented in the Legal Aid Board annual report for 1995 is 1,234; the number of those persons who were granted legal aid certificates; and the number who were in receipt of disposable income greater than the financial eligibility of £7,350. [4556/97]

Minister for Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Taylor)

There is no direct correlation between the number of applications for legal aid for judicial separation proceedings, or any other proceedings, received by the Legal Aid Board in any year and the number of certificates granted by the board in respect of such proceedings in that year. At the end of each year the board has on hand a number of applications which have yet to be determined. For example, 299 applications for legal aid were awaiting determination on 31 December 1994, while 332 of the applications received in 1995 were awaiting determination on 31 December 1995. These applications were in respect of a range of proceedings, which included judicial separation proceedings. While the majority of the 1,234 certificates granted in respect of judicial separation proceedings in 1995 would have been in relation to applications received in 1995, a number of the certificates granted in 1995 would have related to applications on hand at the end of 1994.

Furthermore, as applicants for legal aid in 1995 in connection with judicial separation proceedings were required to satisfy the financial and merits criteria set out in the scheme of civil legal aid and advice, a certain number of such applicants would have been refused legal aid on the grounds that they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Information is not available on the numbers who sought representation for judicial separation proceedings in 1995 and were refused legal services by the Legal Aid Board in that year on grounds of financial ineligibility. It would not be possible for the Legal Aid Board to provide information on the numbers who were not granted legal aid in 1995 because they were in receipt of disposable income greater than the financial eligibility limits set out in the scheme without the allocation of a disproportionate amount of its available resources to the task.