Vol. 482 No. 3
299 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the current arrangements, if any, for the provision of legal assistance to asylum seekers; the proposals, if any, he has for the provision of a comprehensive programme of legal assistance to asylum seekers in the longer term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17570/97]
My Department provides £120 per case in legal aid for asylum seekers to present their cases to the appeals authority. This amount is paid to the legal representatives, who are engaged independently by asylum seekers, on certification by the appeals authority that the representatives have acted in the case. The fee of £120 is the same as that paid by the Legal Aid Board under its private practitioners' scheme for legal services provided for certain District Court family law cases.
During the period 1 January to 30 September 1997 my Department had an involvement in providing financial assistance to the legal project of the Irish Refugee Council which was providing advice to asylum seekers at the first stage of the asylum process. This assistance was by way of a grant of £8,000 per month. By letter dated 22 September, the council informed the Department that they had decided not to continue to operate the legal project beyond 30 September 1997.
As part of the ongoing review of the whole asylum area, I am considering how best the issue of legal aid might be tackled.
