Wait for legal aid meetings longest in Cork

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.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has admitted that demand for services since the economic downturn began has led to long waiting times for the Civil Legal Aid Board which pays for people who cannot afford a lawyer — mostly in family law cases like divorce.

Mr Shatter said he’s “very conscious of the difficulties” that such delays are giving rise to and the board is also “keenly aware of those difficulties and working to ensure the delays are minimised to the greatest extent possible”.

Figures provided from his department show that Cork South is the worst-affected, with waiting times for a first appointment with a solicitor currently at 64 weeks and a full year extra for a second appointment.

On April 1, there were 304 people in the area waiting for a first consultation.

Waiting times for a first consultation are currently at 11 months in both North Cork, where there are 166 people on the waiting list, and Limerick, where 214 people are waiting.

In 2005, a High Court awarded damages to a client who was waiting 25 months for an appointment in Cork. The court found her constitutional rights had been breached by such a delay.

“Clearly things have not improved to any great extent and the State would still be liable for actions taken by frustrated clients,” said Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty.

He said the highest proportion of the Legal Aid Board’s caseload comprises of family law matters such as guardianship, access, custody, maintenance, divorce, and separation.

“The high waiting times have a real impact on the lives and care of children in particular,” he said.

There are almost 3,000 people waiting for their first consultation and a further 2,000 waiting for their second. Demand has risen by 93% since 2006, without any funding increase since 2008.

Just three of the 35 centres across the country have met a Government target, set in September 2013, of having every client met by a solicitor within one month.

Mr Doherty, who received the figures through a Dáil question, said waiting times are “unacceptably high” and called on the minister to ensure the board is adequately resourced.

Mr Shatter said the board offers a priority service for certain cases including child abduction proceedings, where there is a danger of a child being removed from a jurisdiction, domestic violence, certain sexual assault cases, and asylum cases.

He said during February 2014, 15% of the numbers who received a first consultation were given an early appointment on the basis of the matter being a priority.

The minister said he has also transferred responsibility for the State-funded family mediation service to the Legal Aid Board “to help move away from a ‘litigation first’ approach that may on occasion be too common”.