On 12 September the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Alan Shatter signed changes to civil legal aid into law. The changes include:
(i) An increase in the minimum financial contribution for legal advice from €10 to €30, and from €50 to €130 in cases of legal aid;
(ii) Removal of the financial contribution required from those receiving legal services in proceedings with the HSE on child care;
(iii) A reduction of the existing disposable capital threshold allowance for eligibility from €320,000 to €100,000.
Minister Shatter said that he hopes the reforms will raise €700 000 which would in turn be made available to the Legal Aid Board. At present the Legal Aid Board services struggle to meet demand with waiting lists of up to 18 months in some law centres.
The Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) was highly critical of the increase in the minimum financial contribution. FLAC Director General Noeline Blackwell described the increase as a “tax on the poorest”. She said “The poorest people with the least access to law and to the courts will be further excluded by higher fees they must now pay for legal representation.”
She added “What we in FLAC have noticed is that priority cases, like childcare and domestic violence, have increased in number and complexity, which is not recognised in this measure. There has been no increase in staff available to deal with this work, so non-priority matters, mainly family law matters like separation or maintenance – have had to take a back seat.”
Writing about the cuts, FLAC’s Policy and Advocacy Officer, Yvonne O’Sullivan expressed concern that the increased contribution will exclude the poorest in society from legal aid and lead to an increase in the number of people who represent themselves in court, which would in turn lead to increased delays in court proceedings. She said, “The Legal Aid Board is doing its best with limited funding and a very dedicated staff working under increasing demand. This overstretched system simply cannot offer an effective remedy and access to justice to those who deserve and need it. FLAC is concerned that the new changes will leave increasing numbers of people outside the civil legal aid system.”
Click here to read a Department of Justice press release on the legal aid reforms.
Click here to read a press release from FLAC
Click here to read more about FLAC’s campaign work on civil legal aid.
Click here to read an article by Yvonne O’Sullivan in Journal.ie