2 days ago
'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.
