Vol. 525 No. 1
171 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in respect of each law centre, the current waiting times for a client to see a solicitor having first sought access to one; the number of clients in respect of each law centre at present awaiting legal advice; and the proposals the Government has to provide additional legal staff to existing law centres or to open new law centres. [23699/00]
The Deputy will be aware that under section 30 of the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, responsibility for deciding how legal services should be provided, including the location and number of law centres, is solely a matter for the Legal Aid Board.
The Deputy will also be aware that, in order to combat the problems being experienced in relation to waiting times in law centres, I made additional resources available to the Legal Aid Board this year when I increased the allocation of grant-in-aid to £12.899 million. This represents an increase of 8% on the 1999 allocation.
I am informed by the board that it is reviewing the allocation of the additional staff resources I obtained for it earlier this year. The respective needs of the different law centres will also be considered so that it can maximise the use of resources made available to it.
Furthermore, I understand from the board that a review of practices and procedures in law centres is being undertaken to seek to improve efficiency. It considers that this review will lead to an increase in the throughput of cases and the provision of services to a greater number of persons.
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to waiting times for legal services is set out in tabular form on the following table.
Waiting times, in months, for appointments with solicitors of the Legal Aid Board
(Full-Time Law Centres)
September 2000
|
County |
Centre |
Number of clients on the waiting list at end of September 2000 |
30 September 2000Months |
|
Cavan |
Cavan |
7 |
0.5 |
|
Clare |
Ennis |
71 |
6.0 |
|
Cork |
Popes Quay |
55 |
3.0 |
|
South Mall |
142 |
2.5 |
|
|
Donegal |
Letterkenny |
38 |
1.5 |
|
Dublin |
Blanchardstown |
94 |
4.0 |
|
Clondalkin |
174 |
8.5 |
|
|
Finglas |
88 |
7.5 |
|
|
Gardiner Street |
176 |
10.5 |
|
|
Mount Street |
83 |
2.0 |
|
|
Ormond Quay |
202 |
8.5 |
|
|
Tallaght |
163 |
7.5 |
|
|
Galway |
Galway |
123 |
5.0 |
|
Kerry |
Tralee |
97 |
6.0 |
|
Kildare |
Newbridge |
95 |
10.0 |
|
Kilkenny |
Kilkenny |
81 |
6.5 |
|
Laois |
Portlaoise |
0 |
0.0 |
|
Limerick |
Limerick |
35 |
4.0 |
|
Longford |
Longford |
0 |
0.0 |
|
Louth |
Dundalk |
24 |
2.5 |
|
Mayo |
Castlebar |
17 |
0.0 |
|
Meath |
Navan |
33 |
1.0 |
|
Monaghan |
Monaghan |
1 |
0.0 |
|
Offaly |
Tullamore |
27 |
1.5 |
|
Sligo |
Sligo |
14 |
1.0 |
|
Tipperary |
Nenagh |
17 |
3.0 |
|
Waterford |
Waterford |
64 |
4.0 |
|
Westmeath |
Athlone |
15 |
1.0 |
|
Wexford |
Wexford |
64 |
6.5 |
|
Wicklow |
Wicklow |
22 |
4.0 |
