Ms Catherine Ryan:

I will make a point in answer to some of the questions being asked about information sharing and getting the message out about what is covered and not covered under legal aid. We live in a digital age. We have a well-developed website that people can access and that has an awful lot of information on it. It is a detailed website that sets out clearly the fact that we do not just cover family law. There is sometimes a perception out there that we only cover family law. In my law centre in Limerick, according to a quick analysis of the cases we have on hand, approximately 55% are separations or divorces; one eighth are other family law matters; another eighth are non-family law matters, which are quite extensive, ranging from probate cases to landlord and tenant matters to injunctions and lots of other issues before the courts; and a further 20% are childcare cases. We cover a wide range. My message as manager in Limerick, and I think many of the managers in the law centres have the same message, is that people should be encouraged to make the application. People will often ring and ask whether something is covered. It may require a lot of detailed analysis on our part to see whether it is covered under the scheme. I am not making an apology for the matters that are not covered, and I accept the points made by Ms Barry and others about certain matters that are outside of our scope, but there are certainly an awful lot of matters within our scope and that the public are not aware of at times.