Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2013
771. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the proposals, if any, to update and streamline the administration of legal aid with particular reference to speeding up the process and greater accessibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46246/13]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the provision of legal aid falls within two separate categories, criminal legal aid and civil legal aid. Details in respect of each category are as follows:
Criminal Legal Aid
There is no waiting period associated with the granting of criminal legal aid as under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid on the applicant's appearance in Court.
Civil Legal Aid
Demand for legal services from the Legal Aid Board (“the Board”) has increased significantly since the down-turn in the economy. While there was a 10% drop in demand at the general law centres in 2012 compared to 2011, nevertheless the demand for general legal services (excluding asylum) in 2011 was 93% greater than it was in 2006. Demand in 2013 is running marginally ahead of what it was in 2012. The Board has not been subject to the sort of cuts to its grant-in-aid that other public service bodies have had to experience and I have been able to maintain the Board’s grant-in-aid at the same level for 2013 and for 2014 as it was in 2012 (and 2011).
Nevertheless it is a challenging environment that has resulted in lengthened waiting times for those seeking legal services for matters that are not prioritised. Notwithstanding the pressures on resources, the Government has further supported the Board by approving exemptions from the moratorium to enable the organisation to recruit front-line staff for direct service delivery. The Public Appointments Service concluded a solicitor recruitment competition for the Board earlier this year from which a number of permanent appointments have been made and a number of temporary positions have also been filled.
As the Deputy may be aware, on 12 September 2013, I signed into law a new statutory instrument in respect of civil legal aid provided by the Legal Aid Board which, inter alia, provides for an increased contribution from persons availing of the services offered by the Board.
I intend for any funds raised by these measures to be retained by the Board to better fund the provision of services to those in need of them and reduce waiting times for those services. At a time when the State is facing significant demands on its resources an increase in contributions allows the Board to achieve its objectives without money being diverted from other programmes. The increased contributions should result in increased funding of up to €700,000 per annum being available to the Board once the increases have full impact.
I believe this additional resource for the Board will assist it in tackling those waiting times. I am conscious that the increase in the minimum contribution as a percentage is significant. However, I believe the contributions payable still compare favourably with other jurisdictions. Provisions remain in place to allow the contribution to be waived in hardship cases.
In response to the changed environment the Board has taken steps to try and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of its legal services. Those steps include the following:
- The Board has been piloting a ‘triage’ approach to service delivery and this approach is operative in most of its centres at this stage. The pilot is in response to lengthening waiting times. The aim of the ‘triage’ approach is that every applicant gets to see a solicitor within a period of one month for the purpose of getting legal advice (consultations are broadly limited to 45 minutes). If the applicant requires further services they remain on the ‘waiting list’. There is or has been a ‘backlog’ of applicants to be seen for triage purposes hence it is taking time to reduce the waiting time for such an appointment to one month. A first review of the operation of the pilot indicated that clients were satisfied with this particular service initiative. This was because they got early access to a solicitor for advice on their legal disputes that provided clarity about the options open to them and the process through which their disputes might be resolved.
- In August 2012 the Board introduced a new case management system in its law centres. This is a ‘start to end’ system which will in the medium term deliver efficiencies in terms of the administration aspect as well as in relation to the delivery of the legal services. It will take time for the full benefits of this system to materialise;
- In November 2011 I transferred responsibility for the management and administration of the State funded family mediation service to the Board. A key reason for this transferring was to improve the synergies between the State funded family mediation services and the State funded civil legal aid services (most of the demand for legal services is in the area of family law). Improving these synergies will be for the benefit of the customer and will help move away from a ‘litigation first’ approach that may on occasion be too common. Already there are very positive signs from a pilot initiative operating in Dolphin House (where the Dublin District Family Court sits) involving the co-location of the courts and a mediation service with a legal service located there also. Similar initiatives have now been introduced in Cork and Naas and are being evaluated;
- While the Board’s asylum related legal services were previously funded from a separate grant, since 2012 I have funded the Board on the basis of a single ‘grant-in-aid’. With the drop in demand for asylum, the Board has taken steps to integrate the delivery of its asylum related services into the general law centre service delivery model thus effectively transferring resources from the asylum area to the general legal service area where the demands have increased;
- I am aware that the Board has maintained a high level of usage of private solicitors for family law cases in the District Court. Cases in the District Court are often those that need the most immediate remedy;
- I am also aware that the Board continues to engage with other key players in the justice / legal area such as the Courts Service and the Health Service Executive, with a view to trying to ensure that State funded resources that impact on its area of business are used to best effect.
In terms of administrative efficiencies I am aware that the Board has streamlined its financial eligibility process, that it has a Handbook of administrative procedures and that the aforementioned case management system is build around those procedures. All of these steps were taken to minimise the administrative aspect. I am also aware that the Board constantly keeps its procedures under review in order to ensure that they are efficient and efffective.
I am very conscious of the difficulties that delays in accessing legal aid can give rise to and I am aware that the Board is also keenly aware of those difficulties and is working to ensure the delays are minimised to the greatest extent possible.
