Latest news with #LegalAidBoard
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Eight domestic violence calls go unanswered by Free Legal Advice Centres every day due to lack of resources
At least eight calls a day from people experiencing domestic violence do not get answered by the State's Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) because of a lack of capacity. The agency's telephone information and referral line provided legal information to 11,434 people last year. Chief executive Eilis Barry said they only had the capacity to respond to 21 per cent of the estimated 53,103 calls received last year, which included about 2,000 in relation to domestic violence. Flac provides legal advice to people who could not otherwise afford it. Launching the organisation's annual report for 2024, Ms Barry pointed out that the Legal Aid Board receives €12.64 million in funding. However, she added: 'To put that in perspective, the State spends €99 million on the horse and greyhound industry.' READ MORE She said it is 'incredibly difficult to achieve change in the area of legal aid', suggesting this is 'due to a misperception that legal aid is about more money for lawyers'. Ms Barry said: 'There's a failure to view civil legal aid as the vital public service it is.' The agency provided 3,731 legal advice consultations in 2024, a 14 per cent increase on 2023. The largest proportion of these consultations, 32.1 per cent, related to family law. Employment was second with 27.8 per cent of cases. Flac also provided advice in several other areas including housing, landlord and tenant issues, will and probate matters, immigration, discrimination and neighbour disputes. It is calling for legal representation to be available in claims before the Workplace Relations Commission, for social welfare appeals and for Rental Tenancies Board cases. This is currently not allowed under State-supported legal schemes. The agency noted instances of employees trying to represent themselves at WRC cases while employers hired legal teams. It is also seeking special legal centres for the needs of groups such as the Traveller community. Its current service is 'completely overrun with claims of discrimination and in relation to housing', Ms Barry said. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said at the launch that he recognised the need for 'further and greater resources in the civil legal aid scheme'. He pointed out that under Migrant Pact regulations, due to come into force next June, the State will need to increase funding 'just to provide legal assistance or legal counselling for people that are going through the international protection process'. He has received a Government-commissioned review of the system of legal aid and intends to publish both majority and minority reports shortly.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Record domestic violence calls to Free Legal Advice Centres
Domestic violence-related calls to the State's Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) reached a record level of 539 last year and queries in relation to family law accounted for more than a quarter of all calls answered. The organisation received an estimated 53,103 calls to its information and referral line last year but only had the capacity to deal with about one in five of these queries, according to its annual report published today. Family law remained the area in which Flac received the most queries, at 3,180 of the 11,435 calls answered. Callers to the phoneline frequently reported being unable to access a family law solicitor from the Legal Aid Board 's private practitioner panel even though they had been approved for legal aid, Flac said. The phoneline answered 2,341 employment law queries. Queries about grievance procedures, dismissal, bullying or harassment, and discrimination were all higher than in any previous year, it said. READ MORE 'The overwhelming demand for Flac's services points to nothing less than a civil legal aid crisis,' Flac chief executive Eilis Barry said. 'As a small NGO, we cannot begin to meet this demand but the ways in which we work provide a blueprint for a new era of civil legal aid in this country.' A perception that civil legal aid was 'about more money for lawyers' had perhaps created a resistance to its provision she said. 'This ignores the very high cost of not providing legal aid to children, families and communities, and the growing body of international research that shows unequivocally that investment in legal aid saves States more money than it costs. Civil Legal Aid needs to be treated like the vital public service which it is.' Ms Barry said she hoped the example Flac provided would inform the Government's response. 'This response should include enabling and resourcing the Legal Aid Board to provide legal information and advice to address the huge unmet need for these services.' It should also involve enabling the board to provide representation in employment, discrimination, social welfare and housing cases, she said, and include the provision of dedicated legal services for disadvantaged communities, including a properly-resourced national Traveller legal service, and a national network of community law centres. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said Flac's funding had been increased by 12.6 per cent in 2025. 'The increase in calls relating to domestic violence, as highlighted in the report, is a stark reminder of the ongoing need for accessible legal information and support. I commend Flac for their tireless work in supporting vulnerable members of society and reaffirming the Government's commitment to tackling domestic and gender-based violence in all its forms.'
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
'Ireland faces legal aid crisis' as Flac fields 53,000 calls in a year
Ireland is facing 'nothing less than a civil legal aid crisis', the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) has said, after new data showed that the organisation received more than 53,000 calls for support last year. In its annual report, Flac said it only has the capacity to respond to a fifth of these queries, with family law and employment law the main areas in which people sought assistance. Furthermore, it said a record high of 539 queries in relation to domestic violence were received in 2024. 'We have nowhere to refer the 20% of callers who seek employment law advice as the Legal Aid Board cannot provide representation before the Workplace Relations Commission [WRC] or indeed in social welfare appeals,' said chief executive Eilis Barry. 'The Legal Aid Board does not have the function of providing legal information and while it can provide legal advice in relation to the areas of law where legal representation is not available, like social welfare, housing, and discrimination, it does not do so to any significant extent. Flac, with tiny resources and staff numbers, cannot begin to bridge the gulf left by the chronically under-resourced Legal Aid Board, with its limited functions and narrow scope. Callers to the Flac phoneline with family law queries frequently reported being unable to access a family law solicitor from the Legal Aid Board's private practitioner panel, even though they had been approved for legal aid. Flac also provided representation for 102 complaints under equality legislation. Cases under equality legislation involved alleged discrimination in employment by shops, hotels, schools, healthcare providers, childcare providers, and providers of public transport. Employment law queries centred on issues around grievance procedures, dismissal, bullying or harassment, and discrimination, which were all at higher rates than the previous year. Flac said it often heard from people representing themselves in cases before the WRC and facing an employer who has instructed a solicitor and barrister. Flac has nowhere to refer these people to because the Legal Aid Board cannot provide representation in such settings. Cases highlighted in annual report Its annual report also highlighted successful cases, such as the High Court ordering a local authority to provide a Traveller family with Traveller-specific accommodation after finding it had been unreasonable in withdrawing a housing offer to the family. In another case, a school was ordered to pay €5,000 in compensation to a student with a visual disability after the WRC found his exclusion from the Summer Provision Scheme constituted discrimination. "It is incredibly difficulty to achieve change in the area of civil legal aid, due perhaps to a perception that it is about more money for lawyers,' said Ms Barry. 'This ignores the very high cost of not providing legal aid to children, families, and communities, and the growing body of international research that shows unequivocally that investment in legal aid saves states more money than it costs. Civil legal aid needs to be treated like the vital public service which it is. She said the Legal Aid Board should be resourced to provide legal information and advice to address the 'huge unmet need' for these services, and it must be able to provide representation in employment, discrimination, social welfare, and housing cases.
The Herald Scotland
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish legal aid solicitors could strike over rota changes
Union GMB says this change puts its members under unprecedented pressure and risks the rights of people who have been arrested. The Legal Aid Board currently runs a 24-hour hotline to offer advice to those who have been taken into custody and source legal representation. Read More: It was previously run by two solicitors at a time, responding to calls from officers requesting lawyers for suspects being held at police stations. They would then contact private law firms or, if one cannot be found, travel to represent the arrestee themselves. With only one person now staffing the line, it's feared the ability to respond to calls and offer representation will be hampered. John McCartney, GMB Scotland organiser for the board, said: 'Our members are qualified solicitors working around the clock to ensure anyone arrested gets the legal representation they are entitled to. 'Their work is an essential protection for the legal rights of every Scot and the foundation of our criminal justice system. 'Their work is stressful, challenging and underpins our justice system. "It is unreasonable to expect a single solicitor to sustain national coverage over a 12-hour shift. "These are dangerous changes introduced for no good reason and must be reviewed then reversed. "There is no operational justification for these changes and there is no evidence of cost savings. 'Managers took this decision despite concerns and imposed it with no consideration of the impact it will have on staff and, more widely, fair access to justice in Scotland's legal system. 'The clear determination of staff to reverse this decision is no surprise and demands urgent action.' A spokesperson for the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: 'We have not been formally notified by the GMB Union that they intend to ballot their members employed on the Solicitor Contact Line in relation to potential strike action. 'We will be contacting the GMB officials to seek clarification.'
