asked the Minister for Justice if any embargo exists on the replacement of solicitors who resign from legal aid centres.
2.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Legal Aid.
1.
asked the Minister for Justice the number of solicitors employed at each of the legal aid centres at (a) 31 December, 1982 and (b) 31 December, 1983.
3.
asked the Minister for Justice the current waiting period for the consideration of applications for legal aid at each of the legal aid centres.
(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 2 and 3 together. The embargo on filling posts in the public sector applies to solicitor vacancies in the Legal Aid Board and the number of such vacancies so far affected by the embargo is three.
As regards the waiting period for the consideration of applications for legal aid at the board's law centres, the position at the centres in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Sligo and at the three Dublin centres at Lower Ormond Quay, Gardiner Street and Aston Quay is that there is no waiting period for cases which in the opinion of the board's officers are emergency cases. The waiting period for less urgent cases and the information required about the number of solicitors employed by the Legal Aid Board are shown in two tabular statements which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.
Waiting period for applicants in non-emergency legal aid cases
|
Law Centre |
Waiting period |
|
Lower Ormond |
Indefinite waiting period. |
|
Quay, Dublin |
|
|
Aston House, Dublin |
Indefinite waiting period. |
|
Gardiner Street, Dublin |
Applicants can be seen by a solicitor within 2 to 3 weeks of their first visit to the Law Centre. |
|
Cork. |
Applicants can seen by a solicitor within 5 weeks of their first visit to the Law Centre. |
|
Limerick. |
Applicants can be seen by a solicitor within 4 weeks of their first visit to the Law Centre. |
|
Sligo. |
Applicants can be seen within 2 weeks of their first visit to the Law Centre. |
|
Waterford. |
Applicants can be seen within a few days of their first visit to the Law Centre. |
|
Galway. |
Applicants can be seen |
|
within a few days of their |
|
|
first visit to the Law |
|
|
Centre. |
No. of solicitors employed at each of the Legal Aid Board's Law Centres
|
Law Centre |
At 31.12.82 |
At 31.12.83 |
|
Lower Ormond Quay Dublin |
8 |
8 |
|
Lower Gardiner St., Dublin |
5 |
5 |
|
Aston House, Dublin |
4 |
3 |
|
Cork |
4 |
3 |
|
Waterford |
3 |
3 |
|
Limerick |
2 |
2 |
|
Galway |
2 |
2 |
|
Sligo |
2 |
1 |
Is the Minister aware that the three centres in the Dublin area are not accepting new cases at the moment and that there is a serious backlog of cases. Does he propose to lift the embargo on the employment of solicitors in the Dublin area to enable cases to be taken as they are applied for?
(Limerick East): There is no waiting period in the Dublin centres for emergency cases but for ordinary cases there is a waiting period. There is no proposal at the moment to lift the embargo on filling solicitor vacancies, of which at present there are three.
Could the Minister indicate what criterion is used to define emergency cases?
(Limerick East): That is a matter for the people in the particular law centres to define. Obviously different circumstances apply in different cases. In general, cases where immediate action is required are emergency type cases.
Is the Minister not aware that the three centres in Dublin at present are refusing to take on any new cases and that this is so in situations where people have a summons to appear in court? Does he regard that as an emergency case?
(Limerick East): In Lower Ormond Quay and in Aston House there is a very long waiting period apart from the emergency cases which I have mentioned. In the Gardiner St. centre applicants can be seen by a solicitor within two or three weeks of their first visit to the law centre.
Does the Minister not consider that the whole system is in need of review to see how dealing with cases can be speeded up? The period of two to three weeks is not accurate. I have been informed that in many cases some people have to wait for six weeks before their cases can be considered.
(Limerick East): The question of an overall review of the system is a separate one. The particular pressure point here is that solicitor posts cannot be filled as a result of the implementation of the embargo on the public service. I am having the situation examined to see if it is possible to fill the posts within the embargo.
The Minister gave us a list yesterday of solicitors concerned in criminal legal aid which showed average earnings of £1,662. We asked the Minister at the time if he would give us some of the principal features——
If the Deputy intends to go back on a question which he tried to ask yesterday that is very unusual, to say the least of it.
I will not go back on it. I just want to say, by way of comment, that the Minister is giving us a tabular statement again today and——
It would be getting into the realm of absurdity if we were to start today's work by a rehash of what we did yesterday and we would never get any place.
It is a question of what we did not do yesterday.
That is worse. I will not allow it. Nobody has ever tried this one before.
The Minister said he is giving us a tabular statement. I am asking that when he is providing a tabular statement in future——
He did not.
He did.
(Limerick East): I answered the question and there is a tabular statement attached indicating the number of solicitors and where they are employed and there is also one indicating the waiting period.
In relation to tabular statements would the Minister in future have a brief available on the principles in the tabular statement which relate to the question asked. Obviously in the question yesterday——
We will not have a post mortem on yesterday's question now. This is setting up an intolerable precedent. Question No. 4.
(Interruptions.)