Paul Murphy
Question:802. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if his Department sets the fees for solicitors on the Legal Aid Board's private panels or only sets out the overall budget. [2505/25]
View answerWednesday, 5 February 2025
Questions (802)
Written answers
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 (“the 1995 Act”) and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021.
The 1995 Act was amended by Section 54 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011, which gave the Board the additional responsibility of providing a family mediation service. Section 3(3) of the 1995 Act states that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions.
Civil legal aid and advice is provided primarily through a network of law centres by solicitors employed by the Board. The Board operates a total of 34 full-time law centres and dedicated units along with three part-time centres, and three specialist legal offices. The Board also operates 19 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 arising under the Abhaile scheme.
The Board has established a number of solicitor panels for different case types. Solicitors in private practice agree to be members of those panels and are paid a fee per case, depending on the terms and conditions of each panel. Such fees are agreed with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
The funding allocated to the Legal Aid Board for 2025 is €64.122m, which represents an increase of €5m on its allocation for 2024. The matter of staffing and resource allocation is, however, an operational matter for the Board, in accordance with the provisions of the 1995 Act.