Applications for legal aid from refugees rises by nearly 600% in two years

The Legal Aid Board said it had 'significantly enhanced' its support for those seeking international protection in 2023, adding that in doing so it was underlining its 'pivotal role in helping some of the most vulnerable people seeking protection under the law'. File photo: Cillian Sherlock/PA

Applications for legal aid made by asylum seekers increased by nearly 600% in just two years, new figures show.

Ireland’s civil legal aid agency was petitioned for legal representation or advice on 24,472 occasions in 2023, according to the body’s annual report.

The Legal Aid Board said 59% of those applications related specifically to family law cases such as divorce or child custody.

Meanwhile, just under 10,000 people seeking international protection sought the help of the board — up from 1,464 in 2021. Legal aid applies to both criminal and civil cases. 

However, while criminal legal aid is provided by the courts service, civil legal aid is dispensed by the board and is means tested — those applying must have a disposable income of less than €18,000 per year, and assets valued at less than €100,000, not counting their family home.

Applicants must pay a minimum of €30 to the board when seeking advice, and €130 for legal representation through to the conclusion of their case. For the majority of international protection applicants, the means-tested fee for seeking advice is €10.

The Legal Aid Board's budget, dispensed by the Department of Justice, was €59m in 2024, an 11% increase year-on-year.

The number of applications received by the board was up 36% in 2023 on the 17,997 it processed in 2019, with that increase driven almost entirely by international protection applicants.

There were just 1,464 such applicants for asylum in 2021 who sought legal aid, a drop on the 2,539 which were processed in 2019.

The board said it had “significantly enhanced” its support for those seeking international protection in 2023, adding that in doing so it was underlining its “pivotal role in helping some of the most vulnerable people seeking protection under the law”.

The board sought to hire an additional 44 staff from early 2023, specifically in order to deal with the massive increase in international protection applicants seeking aid, it said. It employs 544 people, split across more than 30 legal aid centres across the country.

The board also put in place a specific sub-panel of barristers willing to provide advice to applicants for asylum, it said, with that panel continuing in the same function to the present day.

Onward referrals for applications for aid and advice stood at 16,278 in 2023.

The largest number by subject of those referrals was again for international protection, with 8,850 of those cases passed on to the board's expert panel — representing 90% of the total number of asylum seekers who sought legal aid across the year.

In terms of cases being prioritised by the board, 10,768 related to international protection and 7,443 to family law, including instances of alleged domestic violence. Some 70 priority cases involved alleged child abduction as at the end of 2023.

Waiting times for legal consultations varied wildly across the country, with the longest such timeframe coming in Blanchardstown, west Dublin, with a wait time of 39 weeks for a first meeting.