Irish legal aid services 'chronically underfunded', conference to hear

The Criminal Courts of Justice, at Anglesea Street, Cork. EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath said justice “must be accessible to be real”. File picture: Larry Cummins

Legal aid services in Ireland are “chronically underfunded” and at risk of collapse.

Furthermore, advocates have said that failings in legal aid will only deepen a crisis for those seeking, but unable to access, justice in this country, a conference is to hear today.

Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) and the law school at Trinity College Dublin will hold the conference on the latter’s campus, which is set to be addressed by both justice minister Jim O’Callaghan and EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath.

It comes on the back of the first ever review of Ireland’s civil legal aid scheme last July, which recommended a new support system for the process in Ireland alongside other reforms.

But two members of the 11-person expert panel disagreed with the rest of the panel and a minority report was published, which claimed the recommendations made did not go far enough and would mean people earning just a minimum or living wage would be ineligible for civil legal aid.

FLAC chief executive Eilis Barry wrote this minority report, and said there were several reasons for the crisis in civil legal aid in Ireland.

“The civil legal aid minority report highlighted that the system is failing to meet significant levels of legal need, particularly among people and communities experiencing poverty, deprivation, and discrimination,” she said.

“First and foremost, civil legal aid is not treated as a fundamental right, a core social service or an investment that will benefit and save money for individuals, communities, the courts, and the State. It should be.”

Ms Barry said the Legal Aid Board is heavily underfunded as a result, with a recent independent review finding that resources are so “chronic” that staff are purchasing essential IT packages for their work out of their own pocket.

This lack of resources has made it difficult to hire and retain staff, while pay levels for solicitors on the Legal Aid Board are lower than for laywers in other parts of the civil service.

She said the board is unable to pay for essential child welfare and other vital reports in cases where it is providing representations. The waiting times for a first consultation with a solictor stand at 64 weeks in Sligo, 51 weeks in Ballymun, and 43 in Waterford.

“In addition, the exemptions to the scheme mean that women bringing sexual harassment claims against employers in the Workplace Relations Commission, tenants challenging no-fault evictions in the Residential Tenancies Board, and carers of disabled children appealing the refusal of social welfare payments have no access to legal aid,” Ms Barry added.

“Our scheme of civil legal aid simply does not cover those areas regardless of the complexity of the cases or the vulnerability of the applicants.”

Mr McGrath said justice “must be accessible to be real” and that access to legal aid is protected in Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.