Mr. Seán Ó hUallacháin:

The short answer is that I believe Hammond Lane has been stalled due to finance. While it was purchased 20 years ago by the OPW, it came into the ownership of the Courts Service in 2015 or 2016. Family lawyers in the childcare area were prevailed upon to move into the Bridewell courts as a temporary measure, much against their better inclination, because they were told they would be in Hammond Lane by 2021 or 2022 at the latest. That is the line that was sold. We did not believe it but we bought into it.

It moved on and, as I understand it, planning and building estimates have been obtained. I have heard headline figures, but I do not know how accurate they are. The figure is €80 million, but as it is said this is not enough, it is back to the drawing board. We have made representations on the issue directly to the Courts Service, but we have not gone beyond that. We have tried to deal with it in a positive way and I hope it will happen. We have not gone shouting and roaring, but that is where we must go next in lobbying the relevant Ministers. It is a vacant site and if it is only finance that is stopping it - I do not want to overstep my position - surely the money could be found somewhere to build what would be a very important structure. It would be the facility for family law in the Dublin area for a long time to come, a century at least, but the project has definitely stalled, as there has been no progress. This means that the other buildings which were starved of funding in the recession and in anticipation of the Hammond Lane building being constructed are getting worse, particularly in terms of overcrowding. We are at crisis point in respect of the Hammond Lane building.

I do not have figures for the Deputy for the civil Legal Aid Board as we have not carried out a cost analysis, but it is clear that the solicitors and administrative staff of the Legal Aid Board cannot cope with the current volume. As somebody mentioned, the income threshold in order to qualify is quite low and must be looked at.