Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. O'Leary well. I know of his voluntary work in the community, especially relating to the Farranree Sheltered Housing Association. Mr. O'Leary is the founder and chairman. It is still thriving in the area and is a most welcome development.

I wish to make an observation arising through my work in my clinics. We refer people to the Legal Aid Board. They might have a pending court case. I echo the comments of Mr. O'Leary with regard to waiting times for certain types of cases, such as domestic violence or child custody access cases. Our experience in the Cork office is that people will always get representation and advice and there is no waiting list. If there is an ongoing case, it may be transferred to a different practitioner but the initial court case will always be dealt with efficiently. That should be noted.

I know the board will be examining income thresholds. There is a cliff-edge threshold and if a person is €100 over the threshold, it is a problem. I presume no discretion is available to the board to consider cases in the whole. If not, could that change if the Minister so wished? Could the Minister give some level of discretion to the board?

The other area I am keen to touch on is the family mediation service. How successful has the service been in dealing with waiting lists? In my experience of cases, especially family law cases, a person who approaches the board is diverted to the family mediation service. It may be dealt with there without having to go to court proceedings. Does the board have figures or statistics on how successful it is and whether it will be expanded? I realise it involves a number of sectors. Anyway, in the coming five years is this something the board is looking to expand?