The chief executive of the Legal Aid Board (LAB) says it is time for a "rethink" about how it deals with certain issues in light of waiting lists for its services.

The Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) has used events around its 50th anniversary to call on the government to extend the areas in which legal aid can be granted, including employment appeals cases.

Ireland’s spend on the judicial system is among the lowest across a 45-member group of European countries but our spend on legal aid is one of the highest.

Couples seeking to divorce in Ireland are being forced down a punishing route in a complex process that can take anything from twelve to over 18 months, a legal aid conference has heard.

The head of Flac, the free legal aid service, is seeking wider powers to be given to the courts in dealing with mortgage holders in deep debt.

A solicitor is not entitled to two separate payments under the free legal aid scheme for a client who he represented in relation to two separate alleged crimes, the High Court has ruled.

Lawyers are set to demand fee hikes for representing free legal aid clients in the criminal courts — just as the justice minister plans to tighten up the scheme and perhaps even disband it.

The justice minister is reviewing a system that costs €50m a year and that unquestioningly finances repeat offenders, but public defenders would not be cheaper and may involve a conflict of interest, writes Caroline O’Doherty

Low earners are having to wait more than a year to see a solicitor in some parts of the country because demand for free legal aid has almost doubled in recent years.

The amount in fees paid out last year to lawyers through criminal legal aid payments increased by €760,000 to €47.78m, in spite of a drop in the number of legal aid certificates issued.