Calls to Free Legal Advice Centres spike to six-year high

Flac chief executive Eilis Barry said there is 'an ongoing crisis of unmet legal need in this country'. Picture: Derek Speirs

A person found to be just €500 over the legal aid means test was subsequently landed with bills of more than €20,000 in a family law matter.

That is just one of the cases outlined by the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac), which had more than 13,000 queries last year, the highest figure in six years. It warned those queries were just the "tip of the iceberg".