Ms Stephanie Lord:

The figure that the Legal Aid Board is given is in the public domain. It receives approximately €40 million per annum. Even though there have been increases in recent years, they have not really matched the requirements, given the number of people who engage the board's services. We have figures for the number of people who are waiting for legal aid services but we do not have access to information about the types of cases in respect of which they are waiting for assistance. Reforming the area of family law is connected to this broader issue of a need for large-scale reform in the entirety of the civil legal aid system. We could not really suggest a ballpark figure that we would recommend to provide for the Legal Aid Board to deliver the Rolls-Royce service that is needed. A holistic needs analysis of the entire system is required. We are reluctant to provide a specific figure lest it become part of the narrative that this magic figure will solve everything.