Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Something came up yesterday in the context of the Department of Justice and Equality and the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995. There is a very good provision included in that Act to provide assistance for victims of sexual or gender violence, but nobody is availing of it. The figures are extremely low. I think there was just one case in 2018, although I will not give further figures as I do not have precise figures. However, there is almost no take-up, with just one or two people availing of it. Although it is very good in theory, nobody has reviewed the legislation which dates from 1995. It concerns access to justice and goes back to reason representatives of the Courts Service are before us, namely, to examine the efficient running of the system and legislation operated. The Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 is a very good one in theory, but its operation has not been reviewed. There has been little or no uptake of the provision that allows victims to receive legal aid in a case of rape or a limited number of other cases.