Vol. 525 No. 1
167 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, in view of the worsening of the average waiting time in the Dublin Legal Aid Board's offices from under three months in 1996 to over seven months in 2000 he will sanction an additional budget allocation to allow the board to engage private solicitors on a once-off basis to clear the waiting lists. [23691/00]
As the Deputy will be aware, civil legal aid in Ireland is provided, in the main, through solicitors who are staff of the Legal Aid Board. This service is complemented by a private practitioners scheme in relation to certain cases in the District Court.
As I informed the Deputy on the 17 October, the Legal Aid Board is at present considering ways in which its service might be improved, including the matter of how the additional resources that I obtained for the board earlier this year might be deployed to best advantage in terms of managing waiting lists.
I am advised by the board that the 8% increase that I made available in this year's grant-in-aid allocation will be sufficient to implement any changes contemplated.
I remind the Deputy that under section 30 of the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, responsibility for deciding how services should be provided is solely a matter for the Legal Aid Board.
