4,500 waiting to meet legal aid solicitor

ABOUT 4,500 people are waiting for a first appointment with a solicitor under the state’s free legal aid scheme, which provides assistance in civil matters.

The Legal Aid Board, which runs 29 law centres nationwide, is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the increasing number of applications for assistance.

In the first six months of this year alone, more than 10,000 people sought help — about the same as in the whole of 2007.

Following a High Court decision in 2005, the then justice minister Michael McDowell said no one should have to wait longer than two to four months to get an appointment with a solicitor at the Legal Aid Board.

However, last month, the waiting time for an appointment in 17 of the board’s 29 law centres was greater than four months, and in six of those centres, the waiting time was greater than six months.

The board’s government grant, which accounts for the majority of its funding, fell from almost €27 million in 2008 to just over €24m this year, and it is down at least 30 staff members.

According to Justice Minister Alan Shatter, the board is under unprecedented pressure.

However, he said that priority cases include those where there are allegations of violence, child custody matters and where statutory deadlines are fast approaching when clients make their first contact with law centres.

The board is also looking at a range of ways to work more efficiently in a “resource-constrained” environment.

One initiative is the recent introduction of a pilot integrated mediation scheme in Dublin.

This involves the board working closely with the Family Mediation Service and the courts service in order to try and encourage an alternative way for people to resolve family law disputes.

Specialist units for medical negligence and child care services have been created and a new legal case management system is being developed.

The board has also made use of a very limited exemption from the moratorium in regard to a small number of temporary front-line service delivery positions.

As well as this, internships are being offered to qualified solicitors, through a new Fás scheme, JobBridge, so they can gain practical experience in the areas of civil law in which the organisation provides services.

Since advertising with Fás, the board has received 28 applications from eligible candidates.