Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Jun 2001

Vol. 537 No. 5

Written Answers. - Legal Aid Service.

Jack Wall

Question:

491 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the limits which apply to applicants for free legal aid for the past five years; the number of applicants for each of the past five years; the number of staff employed in each centre for each of the past five years; if he is satisfied that there is enough staff to meet the demands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16974/01]

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

The Deputy will be aware that under the terms of the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, the Legal Aid Board has sole responsibility for the provision of legal services, including the numbers and grades of staff assigned to each law centre. I can confirm to the Deputy that the full complement of staff requested by the board has been sanctioned by my Department.

The number of staff assigned by the board to each law centre during the past five years is set out in tabular form at Table A.

The criteria used to determine financial eligibility under the Civil Legal Aid Act, which have been in existence since 1995, are under review in my Department. This review, which is being conducted in consultation with the Legal Aid Board, is nearing completion and I expect to be in a position to make a statement on the matter shortly. The current limits are set out in tabular form at Table B.

I am advised by the board that the number of applicants for legal services, per year, for the five year period ending on 31 December 2000 – 2000 is the most recent complete year for which figures are available – is as follows:

1996	12,562
1997	13,805
1998	13,740
1999	14,448
*2000*	14,198

*provisional

Table A

Law Centre	Grade	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Clondalkin	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	414	414	415	415	415
Finglas	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	414	414	415	415	415
Gardiner St.	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	515	616	616	616	616
Mount St.	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	515	515	516	516	516
Ormond Quay	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	617	617	617	617	617
Tallaght	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	414	414	415	415	415
Athlone	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Blanchardstown	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	313	313	313	313	313
Castlebar	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Cavan	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	111	111	111	111
Cork North	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	515	515	617	617	617
Cork South	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	414	414	516	516	516
Dundalk	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Ennis	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Galway	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	414	414	515	515	515
Kilkenny	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212

Table A

Law Centre	Grade	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Letterkenny	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	313	313	313	313	313
Limerick	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	313	313	313	313	313
Longford	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	111	111	111	111
Monaghan	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	111	111	111	111
Navan	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Nenagh	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Newbridge	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	212	212	212	313
Portlaoise	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Sligo	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	111	212	212	212
Tralee	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	313	313	313
Tullamore	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	111	212	212	212	212
Waterford	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Wexford	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	212	212	212
Wicklow	SolicitorLaw ClerkAdmin	212	212	313	313	313
Totals		191	197	215	215	217

Table B

Nature of Allowance	Maximum AllowedIR£
Spouse	1,328
Each Dependent	668
Child Care per Child	668
Payment to Parent (Single)	1,256
Board & Lodgings (Married)	1,599
Mortgage	3,802
Rent	2,976
Nature of Allowance	Maximum AllowedIR£
Travel Expenses	265
Hire Purchase	265
V.H.I.	754
Life Insurance	754
Interest on Loans, inc. Hire purchase	602
Disposable Income	7,350
Disposable capital resources (house, land, money in bank, car)	200,000

Question No. 492 answered with Question No. 481.