I am advised by the Legal Aid Board that the waiting periods for applicants for legal aid in the various law centres in Dublin are as follows: Aston's Place, a two to three months' wait; Gardiner Street, a 12 months' wait; Ormond Quay, a six months' wait; and Tallaght, a five to six months' wait.
The new law centre in Finglas is being fitted out at the moment with a view to it being fully operational by the end of the month. Work on the fitting out of the Clondalkin centre will commence as soon as the legal arrangements relating to the acquisition of the premises have been completed. The Legal Aid Board expect the Clondalkin law centre to come on-stream within two to three months. When both of these law centres are in operation the centre at Aston's Place will close.
I am examining proposals received from the Legal Aid Board for a further increase in the number of solicitors and of law centres. Decisions as to increased resources will be taken in the context of next year's Estimates, having regard to the availability of financial resources and the overall situation with regard to the public finances. Also, the board are seeking other possible ways of improving the level of service to clients which would not have implications for the Exchequer.
With regard to a statutory scheme of civil legal aid and advice, it is the intention to publish legislation to place the scheme on a statutory basis in accordance with the commitment given in the revised Programme for Government, that is before the end of 1993. The timing of such publication will depend on the progress of other priority items in that programme. I should also say that the absence of a statutory scheme has not in any way hindered the operation of the Legal Aid Board in the administration of the scheme. The problems faced by the board, almost since their inception, have had to do with financial difficulties in the wider context of the public finances. Even if a statutory scheme were in place, the development of the scheme — something we all would like to see happen as soon as possible — would still have been restricted, for those same reasons.