Ms Maeve Regan:

I thank Deputy Butler. In response to the question about the short-term effect of enshrining this in the Constitution, when we meet a family with a child who has a severe disability which is not being given emergency accommodation or are given accommodation that is totally inadequate – and we see this often - we would be able to challenge that in court. Before we go to court, we get in touch with the council and try to find a solution. Sometimes the council will change the policy based on what we point out is the law. That is a very effective result. In that sense we could point out where there was not a reasonable protection of a person’s right to housing. It would have an immediate effect where it is invoked and brought to book when people point out that a policy or legislation needs to change.

The entitlement to civil legal aid is limited and the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, are the oracle on the entitlement - or lack thereof - to legal aid. They highlight that civil legal aid really applies to family cases and there are long waiting lists. In terms of other legal aid, Ms Clare Naughton pointed out this morning that there is no entitlement to legal aid for disputes over rights to, and interests in, land. That has been interpreted as including housing. Not only does that apply to people being evicted from local authority accommodation but now it will be determined by the District Court under new legislation, which is to be welcomed. The District Court will decide whether this is a proportionate eviction but there is no entitlement to legal aid for that. The only circumstance in which, in theory, a person would be entitled to it and it is not an absolute entitlement but it may be allowed if a person has an infirmity or a disability. We have tried with no success to invoke that at the legal aid board that we refer people to. We, as solicitors, cannot represent the person who wants legal aid. They have been told there is no such entitlement. It is being worked on at a policy level to try to make that exception at least work. There is no entitlement and it is a big gap.

One other situation we have seen is that this affects not only people in social housing but also in private rented accommodation who are being evicted. We worked with a family who were evicted from private rented accommodation because it was acquired by a receiver.

They were told in the Circuit Court just before Christmas that they had seven days to vacate. This person came to us in our clinic faced with this. She was now over-holding and had had no legal representation. On a basic level, if she had representation, a stay would certainly have been put on it. Even if it is not possible to do much more, it is possible to hold the situation and negotiate. It is a huge lack that there is no legal aid there. That is one of the things we are calling for and working on.