Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
420. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice to provide, in tabular form, the current waiting and number of applicants for a first appointment with a solicitor at each Legal Aid Board Law Centre. [41365/23]
View answer421. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice to provide, in tabular form, the number of qualified solicitors per each Legal Aid Board Law Centre for each of the past five years to date. [41366/23]
View answer422. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice to provide, in tabular form, the numbers seeking legal advice from a qualified solicitor for each Legal Aid Board Law Centre for each of the past five years to date. [41367/23]
View answer423. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the total amount of public funding allocated to the cost of Legal Aid Board Law Centre services for each of the past five years. [41368/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 420, 421, 422 and 423 together.
The Legal Aid Board is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. Section 3(3) of the Act states that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions.
As the Deputy is aware, civil legal aid and advice is provided primarily through a network of law centres by solicitors employed by the Board. There are 34 full-time centres and dedicated units and three part-time law centres. The Board also operates 20 family mediation centres. Eight of the law centres and family mediation offices are co-located.
The Board also engages private solicitors to supplement the services provided by Board solicitors in certain areas of law on a case by case basis. These areas include District Court family law matters, Circuit Court judicial separation and divorce cases, international protection cases, and cases on foot of the Abhaile scheme.
A priority service is provided by the Board in certain cases, including cases involving domestic violence, child abduction, applications by the State to take children into care or under supervision, and cases that have statutory time limits close to expiry.
I am informed that the Board also delivers specialist services at the following locations, where it does not operate a waiting list: Law Centre Smithfield (International Protection, Human Trafficking and Child Abduction), Dolphin House (District Court Family Law and Mediation), Montague Court (Medical Negligence/Personal Injuries) and Chancery Street (Childcare).
The waiting times and numbers for first consultation appointments are published on a regular basis on the website of the Legal Aid Board (www.legalaidboard.ie).
To be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Legal Aid Board has provided the information in the below table, which sets out the maximum waiting time in weeks, for non-prioritised matters, as of 1 September 2023 for the various law centres.
It must be emphasised that this table provides a snapshot of waiting times at a particular point in time. Waiting times vary depending on demand and on the capacity of each law centre to offer appointments to new clients. I am informed that a lack of availability of private practitioners is impacting a number of law centres that currently have long waiting lists, along with solicitor turnover and other staff movement or absences which the Board is seeking to address. I am informed that where capacity permits, applications for civil legal aid are transferred between law centres to allow earlier first consultation appointments for applicants. I am further informed that the distribution of resources by the Board is similarly kept under constant review.
Table - Waiting times – 1 September 2023
|
Law Centre |
Longest time a person is waiting (in weeks) |
Nos. Waiting |
|
Athlone |
8 |
22 |
|
Blanchardstown |
24 |
43 |
|
Castlebar |
19 |
65 |
|
Cavan |
6 |
23 |
|
Clondalkin |
19 |
37 |
|
Cork Popes Quay |
16 |
56 |
|
Cork South Mall |
12 |
46 |
|
Dundalk |
20 |
36 |
|
Ennis |
7 |
14 |
|
Finglas |
11 |
36 |
|
Galway Francis St |
2 |
11 |
|
Galway Seville House |
9 |
8 |
|
Jervis Street |
16 |
50 |
|
Kilkenny |
21 |
53 |
|
Letterkenny |
7 |
32 |
|
Limerick |
16 |
68 |
|
Longford |
20 |
32 |
|
Monaghan |
17 |
16 |
|
Navan |
14 |
40 |
|
Nenagh |
12 |
30 |
|
Newbridge |
15 |
27 |
|
Portlaoise |
20 |
43 |
|
Sligo |
32 |
60 |
|
Smithfield |
21 |
42 |
|
Tallaght |
16 |
43 |
|
Tralee |
15 |
20 |
|
Tullamore |
0 |
0 |
|
Waterford |
16 |
41 |
|
Wexford |
7 |
24 |
|
Wicklow |
15 |
37 |
I am informed that the Board employs a full time equivalent of approximately 540 staff.
As a statutory body, the Legal Aid Board has delegated sanction for the recruitment of its staff, subject to the necessary approvals.
I have been provided with the information contained in the below table by the Legal Aid Board, which sets out the average solicitor staffing by year per each law centre in FTE terms during the years 2018 – 2023 (1 January – 31 August).
Table – Average number of Solicitor Staff per Law Centre 2018 – 2023 YTD (1 January – 31 August)
|
Law Centre |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Athlone |
4.5 |
3.5 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
3.4 |
3.6 |
|
Blanchardstown |
2.1 |
3.0 |
2.7 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
2.0 |
|
Castlebar |
3.0 |
2.9 |
3.0 |
2.8 |
2.4 |
3.2 |
|
Cavan |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
1.9 |
|
Chancery Street |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.7 |
0.0 |
2.3 |
1.6 |
|
Clondalkin |
4.0 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
3.1 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
|
Cork Popes Quay |
7.2 |
7.6 |
6.1 |
4.1 |
6.4 |
7.5 |
|
Cork South Mall |
6.9 |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.0 |
6.2 |
7.8 |
|
Dundalk |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
2.0 |
2.7 |
|
Ennis |
2.5 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
3.6 |
|
Finglas |
3.0 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
2.2 |
2.9 |
4.3 |
|
Galway Francis St |
5.8 |
4.2 |
3.5 |
3.6 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
|
Galway Seville House |
4.0 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
5.3 |
5.8 |
5.9 |
|
Jervis Street |
7.0 |
4.6 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
5.7 |
5.9 |
|
Kilkenny |
4.0 |
4.2 |
3.2 |
3.7 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
|
Letterkenny |
3.6 |
3.6 |
3.3 |
3.0 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
|
Limerick |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
|
Longford |
2.0 |
4.0 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
2.9 |
|
Minceir Traveller Legal Support Service |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
1.0 |
0.9 |
0.9 |
|
Monaghan |
3.0 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.6 |
2.7 |
2.5 |
|
Montague Court |
2.0 |
3.7 |
0.0 |
5.8 |
3.5 |
3.2 |
|
Navan |
2.8 |
2.2 |
1.8 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
|
Nenagh |
3.8 |
4.0 |
3.3 |
3.8 |
3.7 |
4.6 |
|
Newbridge |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.6 |
3.3 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
|
Portlaoise |
3.2 |
3.0 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.1 |
|
Sligo |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
|
Smithfield |
12.9 |
11.8 |
11.4 |
7.7 |
10.5 |
10.8 |
|
Tallaght |
3.8 |
3.6 |
3.1 |
2.8 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
|
Tralee |
4.6 |
4.0 |
3.7 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
4.7 |
|
Tullamore |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
|
Waterford |
2.8 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
2.5 |
2.4 |
3.0 |
|
Wexford |
3.5 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
3.6 |
|
Wicklow |
3.4 |
3.2 |
2.5 |
3.4 |
3.3 |
3.5 |
The Legal Aid Board has also provided the following table, which details the number of applications for civil legal aid services received at each of the Board’s law centres during the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (1 January - 31 August).
As the Deputy may be aware, applicants may apply for legal services to any law centre and are not bound to apply to a law centre in their county of residence. Furthermore, I am informed by the Legal Aid Board that, in a case where two parties to a dispute seek the services of the Board at one law centre, one party will be required to engage with a different law centre, which may be in a neighbouring county.
Table – Number of Applications 2018 – 2023 YTD (1 January – 31 August)
|
Law Centre |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Athlone |
538 |
478 |
385 |
318 |
297 |
257 |
|
Blanchardstown |
201 |
234 |
205 |
238 |
180 |
113 |
|
Castlebar |
281 |
318 |
265 |
197 |
295 |
205 |
|
Cavan |
240 |
259 |
217 |
252 |
225 |
170 |
|
Chancery Street |
124 |
119 |
133 |
142 |
179 |
129 |
|
Clondalkin |
227 |
221 |
200 |
190 |
115 |
110 |
|
Cork Popes Quay |
1,061 |
1,043 |
784 |
704 |
1,469 |
898 |
|
Cork South Mall |
750 |
799 |
609 |
603 |
592 |
383 |
|
Dolphin house |
2,266 |
1,828 |
1,788 |
2,457 |
2,659 |
1,734 |
|
Dundalk |
302 |
304 |
279 |
315 |
405 |
323 |
|
Ennis |
381 |
402 |
336 |
368 |
350 |
251 |
|
Finglas |
213 |
163 |
142 |
143 |
284 |
177 |
|
Galway Francis St |
634 |
619 |
521 |
532 |
556 |
419 |
|
Galway Seville House |
475 |
432 |
282 |
281 |
957 |
986 |
|
Jervis Street |
449 |
353 |
286 |
307 |
268 |
187 |
|
Kilkenny |
621 |
550 |
528 |
625 |
487 |
320 |
|
Letterkenny |
544 |
539 |
382 |
371 |
412 |
299 |
|
Limerick |
862 |
896 |
713 |
730 |
809 |
569 |
|
Longford |
390 |
421 |
438 |
415 |
340 |
253 |
|
Minceir Traveller Legal Support Service |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
7 |
28 |
15 |
|
Monaghan |
365 |
351 |
273 |
300 |
245 |
152 |
|
Montague Court |
192 |
202 |
193 |
216 |
237 |
159 |
|
Navan |
530 |
583 |
454 |
495 |
490 |
355 |
|
Nenagh |
523 |
510 |
405 |
388 |
377 |
289 |
|
Newbridge |
466 |
464 |
395 |
377 |
308 |
223 |
|
Portlaoise |
533 |
482 |
428 |
362 |
361 |
270 |
|
Sligo |
392 |
364 |
272 |
273 |
285 |
166 |
|
Smithfield |
1,951 |
2,404 |
1,267 |
1,520 |
5,494 |
5,611 |
|
Tallaght |
275 |
237 |
198 |
222 |
161 |
124 |
|
Tralee |
565 |
562 |
529 |
534 |
531 |
409 |
|
Tullamore |
335 |
323 |
228 |
197 |
236 |
70 |
|
Waterford |
468 |
482 |
399 |
382 |
368 |
287 |
|
Wexford |
531 |
508 |
424 |
406 |
367 |
262 |
|
Wicklow |
563 |
547 |
425 |
424 |
338 |
284 |
|
Total |
18,248 |
17,997 |
14,383 |
15,291 |
20,705 |
16,459 |
Funding by my Department for the Legal Aid Board for 2023 amounts to €53.060 million, which is a 10% increase on the organisation’s funding allocation for the previous year. An additional €500, 000 was provided to the Board in June 2023 to support the recruitment of additional staff to ensure the needs of clients seeking services in respect of international protection applications are met. It is clear, therefore, that the government has sanctioned extra resources for the Legal Aid Board, designed to increase its ability to support its clients.
The matter of resource allocation is an operational matter for the Legal Aid Board which is independent in its functions. I can however assure the Deputy that, as part of ongoing governance arrangements, officials in my Department engage regularly with the Board in relation to resourcing matters.
I am informed by the Board that it is not possible to extract and isolate the total cost of civil legal aid in any one office/county in a given year, as it would be necessary to devise a basis on which to attribute, to each county, all expenditure incurred by the Board centrally.
Funding provided to the Legal Aid Board by my Department for the years 2019-2023 is set out in the following table.
Funding by the Department of the Legal Aid Board by Year
|
Year |
Funding Allocated €m |
|
2023 |
€53,060,000 |
|
2022 |
€47,900,000 |
|
2021 |
€44,575,000 |
|
2020 |
€42,207,000 |
|
2019 |
€40,796,000 |
