Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 27 Jun 2000

Vol. 522 No. 2

Written Answers. - Legal Aid Service.

Richard Bruton

Question:

389 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the waiting lists that exist for a member of the public to see a solicitor at the various centres operated by the Legal Aid Board; the comparative figures for each year since 1996 for each centre; if his attention has been drawn to the serious problems that can arise for a member of the public who can not have timely access to a legal service in particular for judicial review; the plans he has to eliminate the waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18065/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I can inform the Deputy that the number of people on waiting lists for appointments with solicitors on 31 May 2000 is 2,296, which is a very substantial improvement on the figure of 3,542 at 31 May 1999. The number of people on waiting lists at each of the 30 full-time law centres operated by the Legal Aid Board in May of each year since 1996 is set out in the following tabular statements.

The Deputy will be aware that I have made additional resources available to the Legal Aid Board this year to address the problems being experienced in relation to waiting times. I am confident that these additional resources will, in time, result in an improvement in the situation in relation to waiting times at legal aid centres.

I should also mention that the Legal Aid Board, in April 1998, introduced a procedure whereby priority is accorded for certain categories of cases where urgency is a factor, for example, domestic violence, child care, child abduction, and cases where there is a danger that the time limits for issuing proceedings may expire. I am informed by the Legal Aid Board that priority is accorded to judicial review cases because of the nature of the proceedings and the time limits involved.

The Deputy may also be aware that the Legal Aid Board has operated a private practitioners scheme in the Dublin area for a number of years. This scheme was extended on a nationwide basis earlier this year. The private practitioner scheme provides a complementary legal service to that which is available from law centres. This complementary service relates to certain family law matters in the District Court namely, domestic violence, maintenance and custody/access. This scheme, while increasing the services provided by the board, enables the law centres to devote more resources to non-District Court matters and helps in reducing waiting times in law centres.

Waiting Times (Closing Number) in May for appointments with Solicitors of the Legal Aid Board (Full-Time Law Centres)

Law Centre	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Athlone	66	72	143	102	3
Castlebar	50	9	0	32	18
Cavan	N/A	0	5	14	39
Popes Quay	94	206	269	318	131
South Mall	46	102	453	313	202
Blanchardstown	31	103	173	84	90
Clondalkin	23	324	192	80	136
Finglas	26	69	84	104	59
Gardiner Street	187	170	222	241	117
Mount Street	149	187	230	156	36
Ormond Quay	121	94	78	308	339
Tallaght	35	189	324	151	116
Dundalk	47	53	47	31	55
Ennis	20	52	42	89	35
Galway	69	218	348	308	86
Kilkenny	0	28	21	58	80
Letterkenny	121	75	71	75	55
Limerick	140	49	92	89	99
Longford	17	22	15	9	3
Monaghan	10	20	36	22	43
Navan	N/A	0	64	42	35
Nenagh	28	57	35	43	32
Newbridge	N/A	186	272	355	100
Portlaoise	121	29	61	31	41
Sligo	36	68	113	9	6
Law Centre	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Tralee	85	24	69	215	15
Tullamore	N/A	105	106	11	84
Waterford	0	20	9	15	53
Wexford	10	28	4	103	164
Wicklow	37	129	164	134	24
Total	1,569	2,688	3,742	3,542	2,296

Waiting Times (Months) in May for appointments with Solicitors of the Legal Aid Board (Full-Time Law Centres)

Law Centre	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Athlone	2.50	4.00	11.50	9.50	0.00
Castlebar	3.00	1.00	0.00	1.50	1.00
Cavan	–	0.00	1.00	1.50	4.00
Popes Quay	5.00	4.00	13.00	17.00	5.00
South Mall	3.00	4.50	15.50	21.50	5.00
Blanchardstown	3.00	4.50	8.00	3.00	3.50
Clondalkin	0.50	7.00	12.50	3.00	4.50
Finglas	1.00	3.00	3.50	4.50	3.50
Gardiner Street	6.00	7.00	8.00	12.50	7.00
Mount Street	3.50	7.50	9.00	11.50	1.00
Ormond Quay	2.00	2.50	2.00	8.00	12.50
Tallaght	2.00	3.00	14.50	11.00	6.00
Dundalk	3.50	3.00	4.50	4.00	6.50
Ennis	1.00	4.00	4.00	7.50	2.50
Galway	1.50	3.50	14.00	16.50	2.00
Kilkenny	0.00	2.00	2.00	3.50	7.00
Letterkenny	4.50	3.00	3.00	4.00	2.50
Limerick	3.50	3.00	4.50	7.50	9.00
Longford	1.00	2.00	1.00	1.00	0.50
Monaghan	1.00	3.00	6.00	2.50	4.00
Navan	–	0.00	3.00	3.00	2.00
Nenagh	2.00	5.00	6.00	9.00	6.00
Newbridge	–	11.00	14.00	22.50	8.00
Portlaoise	4.50	2.00	4.00	3.00	4.50
Sligo	2.00	5.00	12.00	0.50	1.00
Tralee	5.00	3.00	4.00	13.00	1.50
Tullamore	–	8.00	7.00	1.00	7.50
Waterford	0.00	0.50	0.50	1.00	2.50
Wexford	2.00	3.00	1.00	4.00	11.50
Wicklow	4.00	9.00	15.00	17.00	3.50