asked the Minister for Justice if he has any plans for the setting up of centres for the provision of legal advice or for the making of payments to solicitors to provide such advice.
63.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Legal Aid.
62.
asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of the necessity for the establishment of a legal aid system, on the English pattern, for civil cases in this country.
64.
asked the Minister for Justice what proposals he has for the setting up of a legal aid system for civil cases.
65.
asked the Minister for Justice the estimated cost to the State of providing a system of legal aid, on the English pattern for civil cases in this country.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take question Nos.62 to 65 together.
Sufficiently detailed information is not available to enable anything like an accurate assessment to be made of the annual expenditure necessary to establish a scheme on the lines of that operating in England. The best estimate that can be made is that the cost of such a scheme would be of the order of £200,000 a year.
While I would welcome the provision of free legal aid in civil cases for persons of insufficient means, the cost of such a system could not at present be undertaken having regard to other and more pressing calls on the Exchequer.
I think it is only right that I should take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the work being done by those law students in Dublin who are operating the voluntary free legal advice centres. While it is well-known that many members of the profession often give their services to badly-off clients at reduced fees or entirely free, a specific centre to which needy persons could go for at least preliminary advice on a problem would be a most worthwhile additional service and I would appeal to both branches of the profession to consider whether such centres could be opened on a voluntary basis, perhaps in the evenings, in the larger centres of population.